Unexplainable bitterness
by Lunael
Summary: [KakaIru] At the Konoha annual New Year Eve party, Iruka has to eat with Hatake Kakashi, a man he hates with an unexlainable passion. With some alcool and a very obstinated Anko, Iruka is forced to analyse his feelings for the Copy nin... Drunk Kakashi!
1. Sour looks at the diner table

This is a small fic I wanted to write to wish Happy Holidays to all the KakaIru lovers of the world and my few faithful readers (I do hope I have some!). Of course, like all the other fanfics I write, it grew bigger and took more time to write than I had initially planned. So here's the first part of the fanfic, finally. I'm sorry I couldn't finish it earlier.

Oh, and it's unbetaed, so it's probably full of mistakes. I hope you understand

For those who might wonder, I haven't dropped my other projects and I'm planning to correct and continue Clueless teachersas soon as this fanfic is finished. As for Bathhouse revelations, I sent it to my beta reader 3 weeks ago, so we can all hope it'll be corrected soon now that the Holidays are finally over.

Please leave me comments, I love to hear from you guys!

I hope you will enjoy this fanfic and Happy belated Holidays to all of you!

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PART I

**Sour looks**** at the diner table**

Iruka was watching his reflexion in the mirror, irresolute. Should he wear the scarlet pullover Naruto gave him last year or his gray jumper? He sighed at his reflexion, feeling annoyed at his own indecisiveness. Why did he care so much anyway? It was only the Hokage New Year party, afterall. There was no point making such a fuss about his clothing!

Every year, the Hokage threw a New Year Eve party for all the nins of drinking age who didn't have any relatives left to spend the New Year Eve with. Of course, the official reason of that gathering was to allow those nins not to spend the New year eve alone and have some fun together. But everybody knew that party was more to force them to leave their peaceful isolation and socialize at least once a year, since they were all _obliged_to come. And of course it was a good occasion for the Godaime to get drunk, even though she wouldn't admit it.

Unfortunately for Iruka, he was one of those family-less ninjas who were forced every year to attend to the Hokage's party. The brown-haired chuunin sighed at the thought. Truth being told, it was a rather nice party - or at least that's what the most sociable of them liked to say afterward. Iruka wouldn't know, since he was not a party person. He enjoyed quietness: he spent too much time around young hyperactive ninja wannabes to actually seek the cheerfulness and the turbulence of those activities. Plus, he didn't like drinking much. The last time he had a drink must have been, what, 7 years ago? He couldn't tell and he honestly didn't care. People liked to say that he was boring and, to some point, Iruka openly agreed with them: he liked watching the moon for hours, drinking tea and _knitting_, for God's sake. He was not the kind of guy you wanted to go out with on Friday nights and he knew it pretty well. It didn't stop his colleagues from inviting him drinking almost every week though, although Iruka doubted they invited him more to try to get him drunk that because they appreciated his company.

The chuunin finally settled for the scarlet pullover and put away his gray sweater. Should he let his hair down for the occasion? Would it be appropriated? Ohhh, what did it change anyway? It wasn't necessary for him to go out of his way just for a stupid party. Anyway, he would leave around nine o'clock, before the noise got too loud, as he did every year.

God, he hated those forced parties.

Plus, _he_ would be there.

Hatake Kakashi.

Actually, that party probably wouldn't be so bad if he wouldn't be there, even though Iruka usually hardly saw him in all those people. He had met with Hatake Kakashi one year and half ago at the official chuunin exam meeting and since then, their relation had been rather... cold. Well, "cold" wasn't exactly the best term to use, since Iruka hated the Copy nin with true passion. He couldn't phantom why, but he couldn't stand the guy at all.

It was showing 4:40 p.m. on his kitchen clock. The diner was supposed to start at 5:15, but it usually never started before 5:35, due to some's lateness. Just to be sure to be there on time, he should be on his way. Iruka sighed once again in a defeated way and gave his reflexion a last apathetic look. This sure was to be a very long evening this year once again.

--

"Hey! Iruka-kun!" Iruka heard the Hokage roar happily when he entered the party room, a huge rectangular room of the Hokage tower decorated for the occasion and already milling with people. The blonde woman quickly made her way to him and hugged him with enthusiasm, almost breaking his rib cage with her inhuman strength.

"Happy New Year Iruka-kun!"

"Happy New Year to you as well, Hokage-sama," Iruka replied politely in a choked breath, noticing as he spoke that the Godaime seemed to be already slightly tipsy. Before he could say anything else, the said woman noticed someone else coming in, unceremoniously let him down to Iruka's relief and was on her way to greet them, roaring another name.

Yup, definitely tipsy.

Iruka entered further in the room and made his way to the three long diner tables, exchanging handshakes and new year wishes with acquaintances he ran into. When he finally arrived to the tables, he took a seat as far as possible from the commotion and waited for the diner to start, people chatting and laughing loudly around him. As the minutes passed by, more and more people filled the room, and Iruka found himself contemplating how the number of famililess-nins sadly seemed to increase every year. He noticed Kakashi-sensei wasn't there, which didn't truly surprise him from what he heard from Naruto about the guy. He hoped he wouldn't meet with him...

"Hey, Iruka!" He heard someone call his name from behind him and turned around to see his long time purple-haired friend Anko. Before he could greet her back, she was already sitting right beside him and mildly reprimanding him.

"What are you doing there, isolating yourself like that! It's a party goddammit, at least try to look like you're having fun!"

"Happy New Year to you as well, Anko."

Many people avoided Anko because of her infamous past and her strange habits and tastes. Sure enough, she could be quite frightening when she wanted to - which meant most of the time. But in fact, the only peculiar thing about her was her somewhat sadist taste for scaring the shit out of people. Exept for that, she was a normal, if not a bit harsh and unpredictable person. And, strangely enough for a former traitor, someone you could count on when it mattered. She wasn't exactly Iruka's best buddy - thank God - but they appreciated each other a lot, even though their tastes and personalities somewhat clashed together.

"Ahh, don't give me that Happy New Year crap! I'm already tired of hearing it," the woman grumbled under her breath, her eyes drifting to the entrance of the room, where the Hokage could be seen smashing yet another clueless nin's bones in her famous New Year Eve death hug.

"'Diner's not even served and she's already smashed," Anko commented on an amused tone. "It shows Shizune's not there tonight."

"That explains everything," Iruka laughed softly.

"Just wait, she's gonna be quite a sight in a few hours' time! Ahh, but I was forgetting you always leave before the real fun even starts," the purple-haired woman shot him a sardonic side glance.

"You know me far too well." She silently stared at him for a while and Iruke suddenly felt anxious. That couldn't be good...

"It's decided," she announced finally, hitting the table loudly with her fist, "I'm _so_ gonna get you drunk tonight!"

Yup, that was the Anko he knew and loved.

"Sorry, I don't trust you enough to drink anything coming from you," Iruka answered with a smirk, receiving a small punch on the arm from his friend.

"I'd love to see that as well," Kurenai said as she joined them and sat herself in front of Iruka, Asuma sitting with two of his friends on her right.

"Kurenai! It sure's been a while!" Anko roared, suddenly directing her attention toward the red-eyed woman. They both got up to shake hands with the newcomers and wish them a Happy new year. Iruka inwardly thanked God for Anko's incredibly short attention span as both woman rapidly started to chat together with enthusiasm as they all sat down. Of course, the brown-haired chuunin doubted Kurenai's arrival had been enough to make her forget about her promise to make him drink, but one could still hope.

Slowly, people started to sit down at the huge table, chatting and laughing loudly among themselves. Iruka found himself once again absent-mindely searching through the crowd for a silver-haired head, but he saw none. Why wasn't he there already? The diner was about to start! Didn't he have any respect for anyone?

"Iruka? Hey, Iruka!" The said man snapped off his daydream and turned his head toward Anko, who was giving him a weird look.

"What's up with you?" she asked him with mild concern.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb Iruka, there's something wrong with you. All of a sudden, your face turned so bitter I could've sworn you would bite someone, goddammit!"

"Heh? Is that so?" the chuunin was a bit surprised. Him, bitter? Where did she imagine that? Anko was about to add something when her attention was once again directed toward something else.

"Oh my f-cking God, Hell must've frozen over! You're on time!" the purple-haired woman howled at someone coming toward them. Iruka turned around to find himself face to face with the silver-haired head he had been previously looking for. He felt his heart suddenly tighten painfully in his chest with surprise and his whole body stiffen at the sight of the dreaded Copy nin standing on the other side of the table.

What the hell was _he_ doing there?!

"Maa, I woke up early today. Sorry," Kakashi excused himself happily as he sat down in front of Anko, to Iruka's utter horror. "I promise it won't happen again."

"I'm sure that's a promise you're able to keep," Asuma teased him as he got up to greet him properly. As Kurenai and Asuma exchanged the traditional New Year wishes and handshakes with the Copy nin, the brown-haired chuunin felt his jaw clench painfully. Then it was Anko's turn to shake hands with Kakashi from across the table. When they finished exchanging their wishes, Kakashi turned around toward Iruka, who had stayed seated all the time, and paused. Almost hesitantly, he slowly drew his right hand toward the chuunin.

"…Iruka-sensei," he simply said to greet the younger man. Teeth clenched, Iruka gave him a sour look.

"Kakashi-sensei," he replied on a glacial tone, staring at the other man straight in the eyes. The warm atmosphere turned cold instantly as a heavy silence installed itself in their small group, everyone staring uneasily at the two men. Kakashi blinked at Iruka and, never breaking the eye contact, he slowly lowered his arm, a blank expression plastered on the visible part of his masked face.

"I-Iruka-sensei, how are the children at the academy?" Kurenai hastily tried to distract Iruka. Almost at the same time, Anko asked something to Kakashi and the tension slowly decreased as both men started to discuss with their interlocutors. Iruka was truly glad for the distraction, which allowed him to pretend the silver-haired jounin on his right didn't actually exist and ignore him. They didn't talk for a long time though because Hokage soon got up from her sit and loudly requested silence. When she finally got all the nins taking place at the huge tables to shut up, she made a small speech about the joy of spending the New Year together and some other things Iruka listened to absently, too distracted by the presence of the Copy nin to be able to focus.

Before he even knew it, people around him were politely applauding at Tsunade's little speech and steaming plates filled with mouth-watering meals were brought to the table. Everybody around the brown-haired chuunin started eating in a convivial atmosphere, but Iruka didn't have the heart to it. Sure enough, Kurenai and Anko did great efforts to try to cheer him up, but every time he heard Kakashi's voice or got a glimpse of him on the corner of his eyes, he felt his teeth clench painfully and his guts grow cold for some unexplainable reason. How he hated that man! Just knowing he was so close to him was making his food taste bad... During all that time, Iruka could see Anko stealing mildly concerned glances at him, as if he was suffering of a strange desease or something and it was bothering him.

As people had finished eating and started to get up to grab their first drink of the night at the small bar at the other end of the room, Iruka excused himself and headed for the bathroom. The chuunin entered the bathroom and slowly closed the door behind him, leaning heavily against it as he let out a sigh. That was really is luck. Really. Having to spend the diner with _Kakashi-sensei_, of all people. And acting like a total immature _jerk_ in front of his friends, too.

Oh, it wasn't as if he could control it anyway. When it came to Hatake Kakashi, he completely lost the control over himself. Him, one of the most serious and controlled guys of the village!

The worst part of it was that Kakashi-sensei actually had done nothing to deserve such a cold treatment and Iruka knew it. He even tried to be nice with him… once or twice. If he wouldn't hate him so much, Iruka would probably feel bad about it. But that guy was too… too… too _unnerving _to deserve his pity! And it wasn't like he cared anyway about him, a lowly chuunin who acted toward him with the maturity of a 5 year old… Like something like that could affect _him_!

Iruka wasn't sure if he was feeling guilty, down or more enraged by that. Growling after himself, he banged his head again the door and slowly let his body slide down the small cabin door until he found himself sitting on the floor, miserable and boiling with unexplainable bitterness toward a man he almost didn't know.

Outside the bathroom, Iruka could feel Anko's presence, waiting patiently for him to get out and sighed. This sure was to be a very long evening…

To be continued


	2. Anko the psychologist

Here's PART II! It's not as good as the first part, but I think it's not too bad either. Probably full of mistakes, though. I'd appreciate it a lot if any of you could warn me if you run into a sentence that doesn't make sense at all. Thanks

I worked really hard to make Iruka and Anko's conversation realist and make it _flow_... I hope my efforts paid off!

I'm afraid people on KakaIru livejournal will be dissapointed: I promised them a drunk Kakashi for this part, but the part was longer than I had planned and I decided to split it so it wouldn't be too long for nothing. Drunk Kakashi's going to be in the nex part, I promise!

Enjoy and please comment!

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**PART II**

Anko the psycholigist

When Iruka finally got the courage to leave his makeshift hiding place, the three huge tables had been removed and replaced by fifty or so small round tables taking almost all the space of the room. Only the front of the bar was still table-free and the reason to it was quite obvious, seeing how crowded that place was. It seemed like half of the nins taking part to the party were trying to get themselves drinks at the same time. By the men's bathroom door, Anko was still waiting after him, her arms crossed and her back leaning on the wall in a casual posture.

"That's about time you get out of there!" she whined loudly when she saw him, "All the good tables are gonna be taken if we don't hurry up! Come on!" At those words, she firmly grabbed the chuunin's arm and draged him back to the party.

"Anko, I'm not feeling good, I think I'd better go home-" Iruka tried to free himself from her iron grip, but his friend wouldn't let him go so easily.

"As if! I'm not done with you yet, Iruka-_sensei_," she cut him as she made her way throught the crowd of laughing and cheering ninjas, Iruka following reluctantly behind her. She finally stopped at a small table in an isolated and somewhat relatively quiet corner of the room, to Iruka's utter surprise.

"You stay here while I'm getting us drinks," she ordered him and left as swiftly as a gust of wind before he could even protest. Before he knew it, Iruka found himself staring dumbly at the retreating back, too stunned to react. When he lost sight of is purple-haired friend near the bar, he finally got a hold of himself and sit down at the table and sighed heavily.

What did he get himself into again? It was obvious Anko had some plans for him... Oh, that was just his luck, really...

He guessed he could have escaped while she was gone getting drinks, but he knew for sure that the woman would probably track him down and force him to go through whatever plan of hers anyway, so he might as well get over with it already...

Absent-mindedly, Iruka stared at the joyful little crowds forming themselves around some tables a few meters away from his own table. He found the Hokage somewhere on his right, carrying a bottle of amber liquid and yelling happily somthing about snow flowers to a bemused Ibiki, who obviously wished to be somewhere else. Kurenai and a few other kunoichi around her age were seatted together not too far away from the Godaime, gossiping in an excited undertone about God only knew what. The chuunin then heard an uproar on his left, which came from Genma's table, where a flustered Raidou seemed to have spit out his beer all over the small table after one of Kotetsu's well-known suggestive comments. In all that noise and laughter, Iruka suddenly felt out of place alone at his remote corner, but fortunately he wasn't the only one isolating himself: there must have been a good dozen nins sitting alone at their table, obviously waiting for the moment where they could leave without insulting the Hokage. He understood them far too well. A few others were also alone, but they seemed to be waiting for their friends to come back from with their drinks.

That's when he caught a glipse of silver hair. His heart jumped again in his chest and he felt his throat tighen as he saw the Copy nin, sitting in another rather isolated corner of the room a good 15 meters away from him, speaking with a jounin Iruka only knew by reputation. When Kakashi turned his head in his direction, the brown-haired man looked away, not wanting to be found staring at him. He tried to focus his sight on the huge human mass stock around the bar in hopes to see his friend Anko, or on the Godaime'a atticts, or anywhere else, really. But somehow, his eyes kept on drifting back to the Copy nin, to his own frustration. It was annoying him so much that he didn't even see Anko approach the table until she put down their two drinks on the table, which startled him.

"Here we go! I got you some tropical punch - it's low in alcool, you can't say I didn't think about you - and I got myself a bloodymary. I wanted to have some tequila, but the barman told me Tsunade forbid that drink since she got sick on it last year," Anko churned out happily as she sat beside him. "There was a real crowd over there! I swear, if I wouldn't have threatened to knock off people standing in my way, it might have taken hours to get those damn drinks."

Iruka stared silently at the orange drink Anko put in front of him, on top of which stood a pink miniature umbrella. Anko took a sip of her red mixture and looked at him with an amused smile.

"At least we found the source of your problem. He's 5'11" tall, he weights around 150 pounds, is silver-haired and his name's Kakashi. Care to explain?"

"There's nothing to explain," Iruka muttered bluntly, frowning at the ridiculus umbrella. Why did they put it there anyway? It was not like it made the drink better or anything...

"Wrong answer. Try again."

"There's nothing to explain, I told you!" Iruka hissed in a very uncharacteristic way, poking nervously at the annoying piece of pink cardboard decorating his drink. Funny, how that think wouldn't sink.

"Don't give me that shit!" Anko bellowed, looking annoyed. "You have a problem with Kakashi and that's obvious! Don't imagine yourself I didn't see you acting during the party! Hell, moments ago, you were devoring him with your eyes-"

"I was NOT staring at him!" Iruka protested angrily, the umbrella suddenly forgotten.

"Yes you were," Anko sighed and scratched the back of her head nervously. When she spoke up again, she spoke slowly and quietly, choosing carefully her words. "Listen Iruka, we've known each other for what, 20 years? In all those years, I've never seen you act like that toward anyone."

Iruka stared back at his pink umbrella, a bit shameful of his previous uproar. Anko was only worried, afterall. And it was not like she was wrong...

"So you're going to explain to me what's wrong, like it or not," the woman continued on a more resolute tone, taking another sip at her bloodymary. Frowning, Iruka started playing absent-mindely with the cardboard umbrella, spinning it around in his tropical punch.

"...I told you, there's nothing to explain... I just... I just hate him!" he finally said, his bitter words merely wispers.

"Yes, that seems pretty obvious," Anko replied, obviously amused. "But _what_ do you have against him?"

"I don't know! I-I can't explain it, I just can't stand the guy!" Iruka shouted almost desperatly, his head resting in his hands. His purple-haired confidant remained silent, staring at her friend thoughtfully. After a while, Iruka looked up at her, almost pleading.

"That's not normal, isn't it?"

"Well... some eccentric people sometimes can't stand others for no explainable reasons, but... we both know that you are definitely _not_ that kind of guy, so no, it's not normal," Anko conclued as she took another mouthful of her tomato drink. "You just don't hate someone for nothing and you know it. There's gotta be a reason why you don't like him. Can't think of anything?"

"Honestly, no, nothing major..." Iruka stammered.

"Then, we'll have to find it together," she conclued finally. She then closed her eyes and crossed her arms, obviously deep in thought. Iruka stared at her a bit anxiously, waiting for a pronostic.

"Hmm... Could it be that you can't stand him because of something he did to you in the past?"

"Maybe..." the chuunin admitted, a bit confused. "We did have an argument on our first meeting... And it hurt my self-esteem at that time, but... I don't think that would be a reason enough for me to hate him so much," he sighed, shaking his head, "Normally, I'm not so vindictive..."

"True... Maybe you don't like the attitude he has toward you?" Anko tried again.

"Well, he's never acted harsh toward me, except from that one time at the chuunin exam meeting, but it was minor."

"Or maybe you think you don't know why you hate him because you don't understand it," Anko finally added. Iruka just stared at her, his eyebrow raising.

"...Nah, forget it... Damn, this is getting troublesome...!" Anko sighed, frowning at her reddish drink. Suddenly, something must have hit her, because her eyes narrowed in a thoughtful way. "Maybe... maybe you don't _want_ to know why you don't like him..."

"What do you mean?" the brown-haired chuunin inquired, confused.

"You know, you might actually know why you hate him but, for some unknown reason, you don't want to accept it. So you might be hiding it from- from your consciousness because you prefer doing as if you didn't know," Anko explained him seriously. Iruka stared at her blankly.

"What? That's psychology," she felt the need to clarify after a few seconds of silence, as if it explained everything.

"Okay," Iruka started very slowly, "I've heard you say many weird things in my life, but you've really surpassed yourself on that one."

"Hey!" Anko protested, "I'm not joking! That kind of repression can happen to anyone, even to the most well-balanced guys like you." Her words were followed by a long silence. Of course, silence was not the proper word to use, since the party was so noisy Iruka found it difficult to think in all that loudness.

"... Repression?"

"Yeah, maybe there's something about him you'd rather forget, like something he did to you, something you heard about him - it can be something minor you know - or maybe something you feel toward him," Anko listed casually. She paused as some rather anonymous ninja walked near their and wished her Happy Near year from afar before heading for the bathroom. "It can be anything, really."

"..."

"Besides, do you have a better theory?"

Sighing, Iruka hung his head in his hands. Him? Repressing something against the Copy nin? That didn't make sense, no, it didn't make sense at all! As if there was something to repress to begin with! Anyway, it was a twisted idea, right? Right?

"...You're scared," Anko pointed out flatly to Iruka, who snapped out of his thoughts when he heard them.

"I-I'm not," the chuunin frowned, confused. "Anko, this is just getting ridiculous. Let's just go home and forget about all of this already-" he said as he tried to get up on his feet.

"No, you're staying there!" the woman cut him, grabing him by his pullover and roughly forcing him back to his chair. "Listen Iruka, you're not gonna solve your problem with Kakashi if you keep on fleeing the subject like that! You've got to face it like a man!"

Unfortunately, Iruka had to admit she was right. That problem was bound to remain forever unsolved if he kept up with that attitude. And he was tired of hating so much the Copy nin. If at least he knew why... And, come to think of it, he had felt a bit panicked at the idea - as ridiculous as it was - that he was repressing unconsciously something concerning the Copy nin... Maybe, just _maybe_...

"... I guess you're right," the man sighed, a bit shameful. "But... I can't stop thinking it's ridiculous."

"Ah come on, we've seen worst than that before, and on many occasions too," Anko tried to cheer him up. Iruka started playing again absent-mindely with his drink's decoration.

"So... how do we proceed?" he asked quietly after a while. "To know if I'm 'repressing' anything?"

"Well..." she started off with a smirk, her eyes lighting up with glee. Iruka knew that look far too well...

"... Does it involve me drinking?" he asked flatly, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Between other things, yes."

"I'm outta here," Iruka annonced, getting up. Anko burst out laughing and put Iruka back on his seat.

"Come on, Iruka! One drink or two won't kill you!" she exclaimed herself happily, "We don't need to get you drunk! You just need to... let go a bit. One, maybe two drinks will do it, I swear," she assured the suspicious brown-haired man.

"What for?"

"It'll be easier for you to let things out that way," Anko explained him calmly, serious again. "You'll have to say everything you think about Kakashi-sensei. Even the silliest things! With some luck, that may help us finding out if there's something you're trying to hide to yourself. It might take a lot of time, but we have all the evening to ourselves and the alcool's free!" But Iruka didn't sound convinced.

"Tell me why I should trust you again?" he asked her tiredly, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, don't ask me! I wouldn't trust myself either!" she burst out laughing, slaping his back hard with her hand. "Come on Iruka, loosen up a bit and drink up already!"

With that said, she gave him an exemple and drank another mouthful of her bloodymary. Sighing, Iruka wondered why he had agreed to all of this to start with. Sure enough, the chuunin knew that her intentions were good, but God only knew where it would lead them... No, he shouldn't worry so much. Afterall, if he only drank one or two drinks, nothing bad should happen. Plus, knowing her, Anko would probably get completely drunk before he finished his second drink, so he had nothing to worry about.

All around him, everybody was laughing and talking loudly, drinking up in a light atmosphere. His ears were already starting to ach from the noise and the music hadn't even started yet... What would it be in a few hours' time? Parties were really not his things.

As he stared at the crowd, his eyes drifted again toward the silver-haired man at the other end of the room, who happened to be alone at his table, watching him. Or maybe not _him_ in perticular, but in his general direction: from that far away, it was rather hard to tell. But before Iruka knew it, Kakashi was already looking somewhere else. He didn't know why, but it upset him.

Resolute, Iruka removed the pink umbrella still sticking out of his drink and took and hesitant sip at it and Anko almost beamed at him. At least, his punch was not tasting too bad...

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To be continued 


	3. One drink, two drinks, three drinks

I wished more thanonce I hadn't promised you a drunk Kakashi in this chapter whil I was writing it. It got longer than planned and I barely managed to fit him in without making a too long chapter. It's still too long, but I think it's enjoyable nonetheless.

Still unbetaed, which means it's probabaly full of mistakes and odd sentences. Although my English has greatly improved in the last months, I still don't trust myself one bit ;) If you run across any doubtful sentences, I'd like to know it.

Enough of useless babble and onto the fic!

Enjoy and leave me tons of comments! Tell me what were the best parts! I always love to hear from you

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**PART III**

One drink, two drinks, three drinks...

"So? Are you drunk yet?"

"Very funny," Iruka snorted into his punch, taking another mouthful of the tropical mixture. Around them, the party seemed to have finally started off, people laughing and yelling louder than before to hear each others through the boisterous music. To Iruka's own surprise, it seemed like he had already drowned half of his drink in the last twenty minutes. As for Anko's bloodymary, it was long finished and she was already starting her second one. "But seeing how fast you drink, I think you'll be drunk well before me."

"Hey! I hold my alcool very well, thank you very much," the said woman said with faked indignation, taking another sip at her second bloodymary. "Well, we might as well get over with it already. So! Tell me something about Hatake Kakashi."

Iruka rolled his pink umbrella between his fingers, thoughtful. "Well, I don't know where to start..."

"Why not explain me how you feel toward him?" Anko suggested him as she stared at Genma's table absent-mindely.

"Huh, well..." the academy teacher started off hesitantly. "Whenever I see him, I feel my heart hurt and I stiffen."

"So you're nervous?" she asked her friend casually.

"Yeah... I guess, yeah. And I don't know why, but he annoys me," Iruka tried to explain to his orange drink, becoming more confident. "I don't know why, it must be something about his casual attitude... He always looks like everything's fine, like he's in control and it annoys me. And the worst part of it is that he IS always in control! That's just... unnerving..."

Iruka frowned to his drink, rolling the umbrella faster between his fingers. Anko watched him closely.

"And whenever he appears somewhere, I always notice him at once," the man grunted again darkly. "I can't help it! I can't get my eyes off him if I know he's around. It's like, I don't know, an obsession or something. And it annoys me to no end!" Iruka slammed his fist on the table, making both their drinks shake. "I can't get him out of my head! Even when I'm at home, I think of him. I even dream of him at night! I can't stand it anymore! Even when he's not there, he's annoying me!" he finally yelled, aggravated. Iruka's outburst caught the attention of some people around their table, who looked their way curiously. They both remained silent until everybody had returned to their joyful activities, which took around 5 seconds. Then Anko stared at him, frowning slighty.

"But what? What exactly do you think about when you think about him?" she asked Iruka quietly.

"Nothing and everything, really... His unconcerned attitude, his voice..." the brown-haired man started off reluctantly. "His strange hair, his mask... the first time we met, what Naruto had told me here and there about him, the rumors I've heard... and his stupid perverted book."

"Can't think of anything else?"

"No, not really," Iruka admitted, frowning in concentration.

"Okay, then it'll be all for now," the purple-haired woman conclued brightly as she drank another mouthful of her drink. "Drink up, Iruka."

Iruka stared at his drink dully, doubting the effectiveness of his friend's methods. Then again, he had nothing to loose.

----

**One**** drink later...**

"... And that's annoying!" Iruka grunted to his drink, bitter. "Do you realize, Anko? Everybody just _LOVE_ him, the great Copy nin, Sharigan Hatake Kakashi! He's so famous, so great! So incredibly _unreachable_!" he spat with spite, drinking anohter mouthful of him new drink. Anko stared at him, an undescribable expression on her face.

"You think he's unreachable?"

"Yeah," the man calmed down a bit, staring at his two neatly lined up pink cardboard umbrellas, almost sulking.

"Unreachable as a teacher, a colleague or a person?" Anko pondered suddenly, eyeing him suspiciously.

"What?" Iruka asked her, frowning.

"Ah, forget it. Say, you said something about thinking often about him, right?" the Kunoichi inquired to change the subject. "When does it happen exactly? What are you doing when you're thinking about him?"

"Well, huh..." Iruka started off unwillingly, rubbing the back of his neck in an embarassed fashion. "I mean Anko, is that really necessary...?"

"Oooh, we're frightened, aren't we?" the purple-haired woman bent forward her friend, a crooked smile on her lips, her eyes glowing with interest.

"No! That's not it!" the chuunin denied at once nervously. God, she could be frightening when she wanted to!

"Then spit it!"

"Okay, I, well... In an awful lot of places, actually..." the tanned man admitted unhappily. "There's in the mission room, of course. And during my lunch breaks at the academy, too. And at diner time at home. When I'm with Naruto, and when I wake up the morning. Whenever I see porn somewhere, I can't help thinking of him too - because of his book, you know," Iruka felt the need to explain. "There's also when I wash my clothes and do the grocery. And whenever I walk on the busy streets of Konoha, I can't stop thingking that I might walk into him. I also think about him when I know he's on a mission, and when he returns from one. And when I visit the memorial too. And, huh," the academy teacher looked down at the table, grunting, "...when I'm in my bed too." There was a short uneasy silence - at least it was uneasy on Iruka's part. Anko seemed rather amused, or at least Iruka thought so.

"When you're in your bed?" she asked him in a very suggestive way, her eyebrow raising.

"It-it doesn't prove ANYTHING, okay!" Iruka spluttered, red spreading lightly across his cheeks. "And don't give me that look!" he added furiously as Anko stared at him with knowing eyes.

"Sure thing," she chuckled into her bloodymary, amused. Iruka looked away at the crowd, which was louder than ever. Somewhere while he was talking with Anko - even thought it seemed more like a one-sided discussion to him - someone had set up a Karaoke stage. On it could be seen a suspiciously waddleling Asuma, singing in duo with an equally smatched kunoichi. From the look of it, they seemed to be horrible signers - no ninja with that amoung of alcool in their body could sing decently - but, fortunately for them, Iruka's table was too far from the stage and the surrounding noises were to loud to allow them to hear properly what they were singing.

Then he saw him again. Not too far from the karaoke stage, the Copy nin was standing in silence between the Hokage and Gai, who seemed to be bickering about some thing or another. It musn't have been important, since it was obvious Kakashi wasn't listening to him at all. Well, it wasn't as if the great Sharigan user cared about what anybody had to say... Iruka snorted into his drink. Then he saw the silver haired jounin stare longingly at the exit as the other jounin continued on with his little rant. Ah ha! He couldn't leave either! At least they were stuck in the same boat, he thought sarcastically, his lips curving into a bitter smile. Just then, the chuunin felt Anko tapping on his shoulder.

"Hey, Iruka! Are you listening or what?" she asked him reproachfully. "Geez, you get so engrossed when you start watching him!"

Caught staring at Kakashi, Iruka felt heat spread across his cheeks. But, before he could protest or even make an indignant comment, the purple-haired woman spoke up again.

"I'm gonna grab myself something to the bar, want another drink?"

----

**Another drink later...**

"Seriously Anko, how can you drink that stuff?" Iruka pointed at her friend's full glass of Minth cream with disgust.

"What? That's yummy."

"But you've just drowned two Bloodymary and one Bloody Ceasar! They're made with _tomato juice_!" the chuunin burst out in mock horror. "And now you're drinking Minth cream!"

"And your point is...?" Anko replied sneakily as she took another sip of her creamy drink.

"Never mind," Iruka sighed.

"Hey! Do you realize it's already 10:43!" Anko informed him as when checked the time on her watch. "That's way past your usual leaving hour, I'm proud of you, Iruka-_kun_!

"Think you're funny, heh?" the brown-haired man replied with sarcasm, a small smile on his lips. "What were we talking about again?"

"Dunno," the kunoichi shrugged lazily, her drinks starting to have some effect on her. "Ooh, let me guess! Hatake Kakashi!" At those words, Iruka remained silent, contemplating something mentally as his eyes drifted toward a silver-haired man's head.

"Say, do you think he has a girlfriend?" the chuunin asked slowly, his gaze never leaving the other man.

"Kakashi? Nah."

"Yeah, he must be too perverted to even have a steady girlfriend..." Iruka muttered, a bit gloomy.

"I think he's more of a bachelor if you ask me," she told him casually, her eyes calculating.

"Hm... Yeah, that makes sense," he mumbled darkly to his drink. "'Must be handier that way to have one night stands I guess..."

"What makes you think he's sleeping around a lot?" Anko asked him, frowning. Iruka stared at the table, a bit uneasy.

"Dunno... If he doesn't have a regular girlfriend, then he must have a lot of one night stands to, you know, unwind a bit... With all those girls lingering around him, he must have it easy," he commented on a rather disgusted tone, a hint of bitterness barely hidden in his spiteful words.

"What girls?" the jounin asked him, frowning. "You talk like he's got a whole harem of his own! There might be a few women spotting him, okay, but it's not like they're _lingering_ around him. Plus, it's not because he has no lover he's having one night stands!"

"Come on, Anko! It's nothing we both don't already know: the ninja life his stressful. He needs to _unwind_!" Obviously, Iruka's drink were also starting to take effect.

"You're being unreasonable, Iruka," the purple-haired kunoichi shook her head. "Some ninja are able to 'unwind' without fucking the daylight out of their neighbors!" Yup, that was yet another legendary tactful Anko explaination.

"Okay, give me the name of _one_ single ninja in his twenties who doesn't sleep around, not even once in a while?" Iruka asked slightly angrily, decided to prove his point.

Anko smirked victoriously at him. "You."

The chuunin gaped at her, stunned. "T-that's not the same thing!" he gasped out when he finally regained control over his voice.

"Why not?" asked him in a provocative voice. But before Iruka could think of something to answer her, their attention was attracted by a sudden commotion taking place near the karaoke stage. Before their eyes, they saw a rather tipsy-looking Maito Gai leave the group that had gathered in front of the stand to climb on it and take away the microphone from a clueless singer. Somebody just then rushed to stop the karaoke - Iruka thought it was Genma. Then, Gai started to speak with his brooming voice to the crowd, harboring his typically confident smile. The first few words of his speach were lost in all the noise, but gradually the room got quieter and Anko and Iruka started to hear the jounin through the noisiness.

"...after many years of battling, I'm afraid my prodigious imagination might have forgotten the true sense of originality. But my youthful friend Genma just gave me a magnificient and hip new idea to reaffirm our rivality!" Gai annonced proudly to the mass of more or less tipsy ninjas, himself rather red in the face. "An idea so splendid I want everybody to assist to it, on this joyful day of festivities! Kakashi! My most esteemed rival! I challenge you into a drinking game!"

For a split second, everybody stared blankly at Konoha's blue beast, until the information proceeded into their foggy brains. Then, there was a gigantic uproar in the room. A drinking contest! Almost everyone turned around to see Kakashi's reaction, who stayed still, blinking in astonishment - obviously, he hadn't been consulted about that. When too enthusiast people started trying to drag him toward the center of the room, Kakashi finally seemed to become aware again of his surroundings and started to protest mildly. At first, he was merely pushing them away, but they got more insistent and the Copy nin soon found himself running away from a small crowd of intoxicated, but still surprisingly skillful ninjas. Thus started a rather strange race, where the main target - or maybe the word 'pray' was more appropriated - was a dazed silver-haired jounin who probably wondered what he had done to deserve something like that. The Sharigan user tried his best to escape people who wanted to drive him back to the party, but all his chances of fleeing vanished when the Hokage herself caught him around his waist in a suffocating hug. She happily dragged her trophy toward the table, causing a great deal of joyfully drunk approuving yells. People started to gather around the table where the blonde woman had forced the Copy nin to sit to get a better sigh of the 'fight' that was about to occur. Through the noise of the crowd forming itself, they could hear the Godaime joyfully ordering loudly to "bring over the sake!", causing yet another uproaor.

Iruka just stared blankly at the whole scene as he lost sight of the silver-haired man through all that crowd. Beside him, Anko burst out laughing with mirth.

"This is just so great!" she managed to choke out finally when she stopped laughing, whiping the tears that were forming themseves in her eyes. "This is gonna be fun! I gotta see this with my own eyes!" She got up and motioned Iruka to follow her. "Come on, Iruka!"

"No, I'm not going," Iruka shook his head, not sure if the whole situation amused him or if he disapproved of it.

"Aw, you're such a kill joy!" Anko pouted as she sat back on her seat, gazing enviously at the enormous mass of nins who tried to get a glimpse of the small table where the drinking contest was going on, some of them even standing on the nearby tables to get a better view. "Oh, what I'd give to see the great Hatake Kakashi totally _smashed_!"

Iruka only snorted as he drank another mouthful of his orange drink.

"Tomorrow, Genma'll be _soooo_ dead!"

----

**Yet another drink later...**

"...that stupid jounin, with his cool attitude and all!" Iruka mumbled to his fourth carboard umbrella, a bit tipsy. "And you know what Anko? He _knows_ it! He knows how cool and mysterious and-and sexy he is!" Anko remained silent, watching Iruka's pouting face closely.

"And there's that damn book he's carrying everywhere too! That horrible, perverted orange book! He's setting a bad example for the youngsters, I tell you!"

"You keep on talking about that book," Anko stopped him, tired to hear him repeat himself. "You always say it's a bad influence. Are you sure that's the only thing bothering you?" she asked sneakily. Iruka pouted to the table, mumbling something under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothin'..." he grunted bluntly, lining up for the fifth time his little pink umbrellas beside his empty glasses. Anko rolled her eyes.

"Come on, I'm not going to laugh of you, I promise," she added quickly - or at least as quickly as she could with all the alcool in her veins. "Spill it already, Iruka!"

The chuunin grunted something inintelligible to the table, his head low. "Say that again?"

"He- he must like women a lot to always carry that thing with him," the academy teacher babbled darkly, a hint of sadness treathening to show up. Anko watched him closely, mild sadness appearing on her young features. She stared at her drink, frowning slightly.

"And with all those girls around him... He's so cool, he must have a lot of fans..." the brown-haired man continued bitterly.

"Stop," the purple-haired woman cut him, suddenly sounding much sober than seconds ago. "I think I know what your problem is."

At those words, Iruka turned around to look at her, slightly anxious. Somehow, he felt like he knew pretty well what she was about to announce him, but he didn't want to hear it. The chuunin suddenly felt the irrestible desire to cover his ears with his hands and run away as fast as he could. It must have shown on his face, because Anko gave him one of her rare sympathic smile.

"You already know, don't you?" she muttered quietly to her friend, who wanted to shrink on his chair. "You love him."

"No! I-I mean, I'm not gay!" Iruka spluttered in a desperate attempt to convince himself, shaking his head vigorously. "He's such a jerk, there's no way I would-"

"Iruka-"

"We barely know each other-" the chuunin continued, panicked.

"Iruka-"

"Plus, he's into women and-"

"Iruka-"

"There's no way he'd be interested in_ me_..." he held his head in shame, staring at the table bitterly.

"And that's why you hate him so much, isn't it?" she started off quietly. "Because you think you don't have a chance with him... Because you're jealous of those girls who might at least have their chance..." Iruka closed his watering eyes and bit his lip, head hidden shamefully between his arms. If only she could be wrong...! If only!

The academy teacher suddenly felt tired, so tired of pretending. Those were his true feelings - and some part of himself knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid them anymore. Not now that he'd been forced to face them. He felt oddly sad at the thought. It had been so much easier to hate him, to turn a deaf ear to the burning desires of his aching heart... Now, how was he supposed to act toward the man? How was he even supposed to look straight at him?

Iruka suddenly felt the weight of Anko's warm hand on his shoulder, soothing him. He sighed heavily between his arms, melting into the warmth. He relaxed a bit, but still refused to look up.

"Hey," he heard the purple-haired woman whisper to his ear, "It's not the end of the world, you know. You're not the first guy who fell for someone who couldn't love 'em back."

Iruka heard himself snort at her comment. Trust Anko to depress someone further when she was supposed to be supportive. But, somehow, it made him smile.

"Thanks for your support," he replied with sarcasm as he straightened up.

"Anytime." She winked at him, finishing her drink. "Come on, cheer up Iruka. Hey, let's forget about Kakashi and get drunk together!" she burst out happily, grabbing him forcefully into a tight embrace, all hints of sobriety in her attitude vanished. "How does it sound?"

"I think I've had enough for tonight, Anko," Iruka replied dully, pushing the tipsy woman away gently. "I'd better go home... I need to be alone for a while."

"Aww, that means you won't drag your oooooooold friend Anko home when she'll be too smashed to stand?" his friend asked, faking a poud.

"I'm afraid so," he laughed half-heartely. "But if it can cheer you up, I give you my whole cardboard umbrella collection."

"That's too nice of you," she mocked, taking one of the pink umbrellas and carefully pinning it to her purple hair. "How do I look?" she asked on an uncharacteristic high-pinched tone.

"Drunk," he answered flatly. "I think you've had enough too, Anko."

The purple haired woman opened widely her mouth to protest when there was a loud crash nearby, followed by histerical laughs. They both turned around to see that someone had apparently fell over the table beside theirs, knocking over the whole table and a few chairs. A few meters away, a small group of drunken people, of which Raidou, Asuma and Genma where part of, were laughing so hard that Iruka wondered why they haven't died from suffocation yet. Giggling, Anko got up and walked - with more or less ease, Iruka noted - toward the fallen table happily to help the other man up, since it seemed he wouldn't get up on his own. When she got a sight of him, she swore loudly.

"Iruka! It's _Kakashi_!"

* * *

To be continued.


	4. Drunk Kakashi and pink cardboard umbrell

I'm a little bit disappointed with that part. It's rather interesting and fun to read, but Kakashi's attics were downright hilarous in my head. Somehow, I didn't quite manage to write it exactly the way I felt it, since it doesn't sound as fun as I first had imagined it. Oh well.

Still full of mistakes, tell me if you run into a sentences that doesn't make sense at all!

More drunk Kakashi coming up! Enjoy everyone!

* * *

**PART IV**

Drunk Kakashi and pink cardboard umbrellas

"Iruka! It's _Kakashi_!"

The academy teacher felt his heart jump painfully in his chest at those words. Without thinking, he got up to see him by himself.

A few feet away from him was the famous silver-haired man, sprawling on the ground gracelessly, not even caring to try to get up. Although in the state he seemed to be, Iruka wondered if he would be able to. Hell, he even doubted the Copy nin _realized_ he was lying on the floor. He surprised himself feeling pity for the obviously drunk man who had obviously been forced drinking up more than he was used to. Anko approached him and tried to help him standing up, but Kakashi seemed as cooperative as a bag of floor. And a very heavy bag of floor, from the look of it.

"Heh Iruka," Anko whined loudly. "Bring your ass over here and help me godammit!"

At those words, Iruka froze. His mind turned blank as he stared at the Copy nin lying on the ground in front of him. Mixted feelings slowly rose inside of him, confusing him further and leaving him hesitant. Fear, anger, bitterness, shame and sadness merged together in his suddenly foggy mind in a dizzying dance. Was he supposed to love or hate him? Should he help him? What-

"Iruka!" the brown-haired chuunin heard someone say his name, snapping out of his trance. "Are you coming or not?"

Shaking his head to chase away his confused thoughts, Iruka walked forward and grabbed the intoxicated nin firmly by his left shoulder, lifting him from the ground uneasily - God, who could have known he was so heavy! Helping him, Anko grabbed Kakashi by his right arm and motionned them toward their small round table. Halfway through the little journey, Kakashi seemed to regain some control over his body and walked unsteadily with them. Together, they sat him on a vacant chair beside Anko's, sighing when they finally could put him down. As they regained their seats, the Copy nin slowly stared blankly around him, his single eye unusually glassy. Then, he caught sight of Iruka sitting in front of him.

"Iruka," Kakashi babbled, suddenly staring at the other man. The chuunin felt his troath tighten when he heard the other man say his name, but looked back at him nonetheless. They both stared at each other for what seemed to Iruka an eternity, nervousity slowly overcoming him. What? Was he mad with him? Did he want to tell him something? What did he want? Just then, the Copy nin's single eye curved happily.

"Hi!"

Iruka just blinked stupidly at him, flabbergasted. Beside him, Anko giggled, "You remember telling me I had had too much? Now _that's_ having had too much!"

The chuunin fully agreed with her, but he didn't say it. He gave the exit a short sidelong glance and felt the irresistible desire to 'get the hell out of there', as some could have put it. Although he was smashed, Iruka didn't want to spend more time around the Copy nin than needed, for his own sanity. Caughing nervously, he got up. "I better go now-" Anko grabbed him by the collar with a surprising speed given the state she was in and yanked him toward her.

"Come on Iruka, don't be scared like that! Look at him, he's so drunk he can barely talk, let alone walk," she scolded him under her breath, "Stay with us for a while!"

Siting back on his chair, Iruka sighed. '_Don't be scared_'... Of course, that was easier said than done... God only knew what could happen with a drunk Kakashi around... He felt himself relax a bit nonetheless.

"Hey, Iruka," the chuunin heard the silver-haired man call his name slowly. Looking up, he saw the older man smiling happily at him again. "Hi!"

"Uh... Hi." He replied hesitantly. There was a long silence between them, Kakashi smiling at him stupidly. That was just... Odd. After a while, when Iruka turned around toward an obviously highly amused Anko, the other man spoke up again.

"Iruka," The academy teacher advertized his eyes back on the Copy nin at once, a bit tense. "I won." The Copy nin chirped proudly to the dumbfounded chuunin seated across him.

"You... won?" Iruka couldn't help but ask back, confused.

"The drinkin' cha- ch-chall-" Kakashi spluttered, his toungue obviously refusing to cooperate proberly with his already rather turned-off brain.

"The drinking challenge?" Iruka helped him before he could stop himself. Kakashi nodded in a very childish way, beaming. For a split second, the academy teacher felt like dealing with a child... A spluttering and overgrown child, but a child nontheless. The comparison brought a tiny smile to his lips, his reluctance fading away - alcohol helping, of course. Then, Kakashi decided to speak up again.

"You know, against Gai," he added suddenly, jerking his hand roughly toward the center of the room, where a few people still lingered in the afterglow of the drinking contest, laughing to one another. "They took him to the hos-hospitital.'Said somethin' about too much alcohol..." He shrugged lazily, obviously not feeling concerned by the man's sake. Then, he turned his head toward Anko, staring at her oddly. After a silent moment, the intoxicated elite jounin's arm rose toward the woman, more accurately toward her hair.

"Pretty..." he mumbled, staring at the little umbrella she had previously pinned in her hair. Anko jerked his hand away, whining.

"Hey! No touchie! Here, if you want one," she took one of the other cardborad decorations and put it into Kakashi hand, who stared at it a bit dumbly. Taking it between his fingers, he tried to make it roll, but only suceeded into droping the umbrella on the table. Patiently, he carefully grabbed the pink decoration into his hand and tried again to roll it between his fingers, droping it one more time on the table.

"I think we found something to keep him occupied for a while," Anko giggled into her drink as the Copy nin lowered his hand once again to pick up the pink umbrella. Iruka nodded, a small smile on his lips. Even though it was quite a disturbing sight to see the great Hatake Kakashi engrossed with a miniature cardboard umbrella, he had to admit it was also somewhat cute to watch.

Just then, Kurenai and Asuma - who, although he was not even close as drunk as Kakashi, looked quite intoxicated, if the way he walked was any indication - decided to drop by their table. Kurenai, a bit tipsy herself, started gossiping with Anko about something Iruka couldn't care less about as Asuma shoved roughly his powerful arm into the Copy nin's back, laughing loudly.

"That was one nice drinkin' contest, Hatake! I didn't know ya could hold your sake so well!" he bellowed happily to the silver-haired man, who obviously hadn't liked one bit being hit like that without warning. Glaring silently at the other man, he picked up the cardboard umbrella Asuma had made him drop and stared at it curiously. Kakashi's reaction made the bearded man laugh louder.

"Poor Kakashi, he's so smashed he doesn't even recognize his buddies anymore!"

As Asuma turned his head toward the women to join their discussion, Iruka could have sworn the saw the Copy nin pull a face to the other jounin. Then, he caught sight of Kurenai and stared at her, strangely thoughtful. His gaze then went in turn to his umbrella, Anko and Kurenai.

"What do you think, Iruka?" Kurenai suddenly asked the chuunin, who's attention had been set on the silver-haired man and his pink umbrella. Iruka jerked his head up, confused.

"Huh? About what?" he asked, oblivious.

"Iruka! You weren't even _listening_!" Both women glared at him reproachfully. "What do you think about the rumors on the new uniform they want to impose us?"

"Err... I haven't heard about it..."

"What! But brown is such an awful colour! It's _dull_!" Kurenai replied, completely oblivious to the fact that her answer didn't even make sense.

"What r'ya talkin' about? Brown's nice!"

Then Kurenai opened her mouth to protest, but Iruka didn't hear what she was saying because his eyes caught sight of a pale and dangerously unsteady hand holding an umbrella slolwy moving toward the kunoichi, his attention at once brought back to the Copy nin's attics. In an laughable attempt of stealth, Kakashi stretched his arm toward the oblivious black-haired woman who was sitting between Asuma and him, aiming shakily for her hair. Asuma and him watched the Sharigan user silently as he tried to pin the miniature cardboard umbrella in Kurenai's hair. Engrossed, Iruka stared as the little umbrella fell once, twice, three times before Kakashi finally managed to pin it in the hair nearby her ear, which was quite a miracle, given how shaky his hand was. But the funniest part was that Kurenai never stopped talking during all that time, never realizing someone was playing with her hair with a pointy cardboard stick. That got the three of them giggling at first, but their muffled giggles soon turned into uncontrollable roars of laughers. Even when the two women stared at them weirdly, they just couldn't stop laughing stupidly. At this point, they were not even laughing about the pink umbrella anymore, they just laughed for nothing - alcohol greatly helping.

When he calmed down a bit, Asuma gracefully announced he "needed to_ piss_", leaving a breathless Iruka with two gossiping women and one very drunk jounin, who was once again busy with yet another umbrella, still giggling to himself. Wiping his eyes, Iruka didn't see Kurenai leave the table. When he opened his eyes again, a tipsy Anko was standing two barely two inches away from his face, startling him.

"Anko!" he jumped, holding his heart with his hand. "Don't ever do that again!"

The purple-haired woman laughed sheepishly, then started whispering quietly into the man's ear.

"Ya know Iruka, you could use that occasion to tell Kakashi..." she withdrew herself, obviously waiting for a reaction.

"Tell? Tell him what...? Oh!" Iruka caught on, blushing slightly at the thought. Frowning nervously, he bent forward his friend, whispering anxiously into her ear.

"Are you mad?! I just understood my feelings, I can't just confess like that!"

"Why not? That's the best occasion: he's too drunk to give you a straight answer," she winked at him.

"That's no the point! If it's not tonight, then he'll turn me down first thing tomorrow morning!" replied her anxiously, fidgetting slightly on his chair. Nervously, he sideglanced at Kakashi, who couldn't care less about what they were talking about, too busy trying to pin his new umbrella into his own tangled mass of hair - and failing miserably, Iruka noted.

"So what? You're sure to be turned down, so you can't be disappointed if he refuses you, right?"

"..." Of course, she was right... Iruka had no illusion whatsoever concerning the Copy nin: Kakashi was straight and the chuunin knew he'd be turned down if he ever was to confess his feelings to him. There would be no surprise there. But he couldn't help feeling miserable at the idea of being turned down...

"And you have to admit you own him at least an explaination," Anko added quietly, not even caring to whisper anymore. Those words brought guilt to the academy teacher as he recalled of his previous behaviour toward the man. And not just his attitude earlier that night: he's been acting harshly toward him for _months_ - and for no reason the man could understand moreover. It would be only fair to explain himself... But the idea frightened the brown-haired man.

"And what if he laughs of me - or get angry or disgusted at me?" he wondered out loud anxiously, already imagining the worst possible refusal senario in his head.

"Listen Iruka," Anko continued more seriously, "It'll remove a weight from your shoulders to tell him, whatever his reaction'll be. Believe me."

"I know that, but I'm not sure I'll be able to live through it if he starts making fun of me or scorns me..." the chuunin replied sadly, his head down in shame. Just then, he felt the weight of a wide hand on his shoulder and turned his head around sharply to see Asuma leaning over his shoulder, oddly serious-looking. Iruka felt his heart stop beating in his chest, anxiety overcoming him at the idea someone might have overheard him talking about confessing his feelings to the Copy nin.

"I dunno what you're talkin' about," the older man started off seriously, trying his best to stay still as he spoke, "but I can tell ya somethin' Iruka. I've known Kakashi for a looong time and, he's a nice guy, y'know. If you hav' somethin' to tell Kakashi, you dun't hav'ta worry. He'll never laugh of you, _never_! Heh, Gai's been harrassin' him for YEARS and he's _never_ turned mad at him - and God knows I'd have if I were him! And there was that drunk dude who tried to hit on him last year at the jounin summer party," Asuma giggled as he recalled the fun event, "and Kakashi acted like nothin' happened, all nice and stuff. The guy got laughed of by the rest of the folks there though. 'Heard he got himself a boyfriend after that," Asuma pulled a face, obviously disgusted by the idea. "Kakashi's had too many hard times to loose his time hatin' people anymore, so you dun't hav'ta worry."

Iruka looked down at those words, thoughtful. Indeed, Kakashi didn't seem to be the kind of guy to despite anyone - at least, maybe not for such a minor reason... Knowing him, he would probably just shrug it off and go on as if everything was normal. Of course, he had more important things on his mind than the feelings some vaguely familiar chuunin had for him... Confessing probably wouldn't change anything between them.

But it was too fast. Not tonight. He would confess him his crush one day... but not tonight. Looking up, Iruka saw Kakashi glare at his pink umbrella, which obviously didn't want to stick in his spiky hair. That curious sight brought a tiny smile to his lips. _One day I will_, he promised himself.

Beside him, a tipsy Anko and an obviously drunk Asuma were bickering together, the purple-haired woman pouting.

"_Come ooooon_ Asuma, tell me already!"

"No can do!" the man replied bluntly, looking away.

"But I want to know who's tried to hit on Kakashi-i!" the jounin whined loudly in a very childish way.

"I can't tell you," Asuma answered her, eying the oblivious Kakashi cautiously. "People made so much fun of the guy that Kakashi himself treath'ned us to cut off our _balls _if we ever wer'ta talk about that again."

"Pleeeeeease! I promise I won't tell!" Anko pleaded loudly, clutching Asuma's vest with an iron grip.

"'Kay, okay!," the bearded man leaned in, still eying Kakashi cautiously. Bending forward the younger woman, he whispered something into her ear. The purple-haired woman'e eyes widened in shock.

"RAIDOU?!"

"_Shhhhht!_" Asuma tried to silence her, laughing under his breath. They both started giggling at the thought of a tipsy Raidou trying to hit on the Copy nin. How childish of them... But Iruka had to admit it must have been a rather rare sight.

That's the moment the silver-haired man chose to try to get up on his shaky legs. When he saw the Copy nin wobble on his feet, Iruka got up and hurried toward him and forced him back onto his seat, worried the man whould fall and hut himself again.

"You should stay seated," Iruka told him almost reproachfully. The Sharigan user, who had somehow finally managed to pin the pink umbrella behind his ear, grunted something under his breath.

"What?"

"'S boring here. Too much noise... Wanna go home..."

"_Oh_..." Iruka breathed, frowning. Then, Asuma roughly voiced out his thoughts.

"You can't go home alone! Ya can barely walk!" he beamed happily, obviously finding the whole situation amusing.

"Yes I can walk!" Kakashi replied back bluntly, trying to stand on his feet once again. But Iruka didn't allow him to, pushing him back on his chair almost at once. The older man looked up at him, glaring. Iruka didn't even notice it as he frowned to himself, deep in thoughts. He couldn't just let the Copy nin go back home alone - he probably wouldn't be able to anyway. Looking around, he saw that the room was full with happily intoxicated nins, none of which sober enough to bring such an heavy weight as Kakashi home safely. If they ever wanted to, that is. He had to make a decision...

As he stared at the Copy nin mumbling to himself grumpily, Iruka realized he had already made that decision. He inwardly sighed at the thought, cursing those damn feelings he had toward the jounin that just wouldn't get away. Why things always had to be so damn complicated...

Bending forward and passing the silver-haired man's right arm over his shoulder, Iruka pulled the heavy man up. "Come on, I'm bringing you home."

Kakashi didn't struggle or even protest against the chuunin's assistance, as Iruka feared he would, and almost at once leaned on Iruka, leaving the slighly shorter man momentarily breathless under his weight. Bending forward, the brown-haired man got a better hold of the elite jounin's arm and passed his left arm around the man's waist for a better support. When the jounin leaning on him didn't feel so heavy anymore, the brown-haired man slowly started walking toward the exit, Kakashi walking uneasily by his side. Iruka could feel the man's breath on his neck and his warm and muscled body against his, but he tried not to think about it too much. It was _not_ the moment to have such thoughts!

Before leaving, he turned around to say goodbye to the tipsy purple-haired jounin still sitting at their remote table.

"I'm bringing him to his place and I'm going home afterward," he warned Asuma and Anko loudly so they could hear him over all the noise. "Goodbye!"

"Happy New year Iruka!" Asuma roared happily as a farewell wish.

"Goooodbye!" Anko bellowed cheerfully, raising her drink up for him.

When the academy teacher was about to turn back and leave, Anko called his name again.

"Hey, Iruka! He's drunk! Take advantage of it!" she yelled him, winking suggestively. Catching the double sense of the sentence, Iruka felt heat spread across his cheeks. Damn Anko for puting those kind of images in his head in such a moment! Grunting, he didn't answer back and turned away, leading Kakashi toward the exit.

"What did she mean?" the Copy nin asked him curiously.

"Nothing," he answered him quietly, "she has had too much alcohol."

"...Oh." that answer seemed to satisfy him.

They slowly made their way out of the festive party room and then out of the Hokage tour, the cool air of the night hiting their faces as they walked outside. Iruka sighed contently at the peaceful silence surrounding both of them, happy to finally put to rest his ringing ears. Beside him, the Copy nin looked up at the velvet sky over their heads, the almost full moon visible through a thin layer of misty clouds. Iruka soon found himself gazing silently at the beautiful sight alongside the Sharigan user, both appreciating the precious moment.

Looking down after a while, the chuunin quietly spoke to himself, "Okay, we're taking you home now..."

Slowly, they started walked away into the night.

* * *

To be continued


	5. Say Iruka, am I drunk?

I'm a little bit disappointed with that part. It's rather interesting and fun to read, but Kakashi's attics were downright hilarous in my head. Somehow, I didn't quite manage to write it exactly the way I felt it, since it doesn't sound as fun as I first had imagined it. Oh well.

Still full of mistakes, tell me if you run into a sentences that doesn't make sense at all!

More drunk Kakashi coming up! Enjoy everyone!

* * *

**PART V**

Say Iruka, am I drunk?

Against the brown-haired ninja, Kakashi staggered dangerously, leaning on the slightly shorter man for much needed support. Iruka panted slightly under his weight, sincerely hoping the Copy nin wasn't living too far away.

"Where do you live, Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka asked the intoxicated man he nearly dragged around, who was still staring at the sky with an oddly distant look on the only visible part of his face. When he heard the younger man say his name, the Sharigan user turned his heard around slowly, giving the other man a rather blank look.

"... Where I... live? Huh..." he started off hesitantly, frowning slightly to himself. Then he remained silent, glaring at his feet as if it was their fault he couldn't quite remember what his address was. Under the taller man, Iruka felt himself start to panick at the idea the Copy nin couldn't remember where he lived, his mind calculating rapidly. Being the skillful ninja he was, Hatake Kakashi surely enough did NOT wander around with ID cards on which his address could be written down, which meant Iruka had no way of finding where the silver-haired man lived. But he couldn't leave him alone outside in the state he was in; that was not even a considerable option for Iruka. That meant... he would have to bring him to his _own_ apartment. That idea didn't rejoice much the chuunin, who was rather upset by the prospect of having a drunk Kakashi sleeping on his couch. Bringing him back home was one thing, but having him spend the night at _his_ place was definitely another... Iruka sighed inwardly at the thought. What had he gotten himself into again...?

Just as the academy teacher was dreadfully imaginating having the smashed Copy nin waking up grumpily in his living room in the morning, Kakashi's face lightened up.

"Oh yeah, I remember!" he blurted happily, "I live on the 51st street. In the block juuust beside the flower shop!" At those words, the chuunin felt himself relax, sighing with relief. For a moment, he had thought he would have to house Hatake Kakashi in his living room! What a joke! It must have been all the alcohol he had drunk...!

As they headed for the 51st street, the staggering man beside Iruka gave him a long sideglance, his gray eye narrowed suspiciously.

"... You didn't think I would remember," he reproached the brown-haired man slowly, almost pouting. Iruka gave him a surprised look. How did he manage to notice such a thing in the state he was in? That man was sure a phenomenom...

"Of course not, Kakashi-sensei," Iruka finally lied to the man on a soothing tone, like he would do to a 5 year old who thought the academy teacher didn't like his drawing. Beside him, he heard the man snort.

"Hmph! It's not because I can't walk properly that I've lost my touch, y'know," the silver-haired man mumbled at the road under their feet. "...Besides, it's not my fault if the ground keeps on spinning like that..."

That last comment made the chuunin smile, but fortunately the jounin didn't notice it. They walked side by side in silence, at a snail's pace, the moon over the heads lighening up the snowy village with its soft light. Fortunately, Kakashi's apartment wasn't too far away, Iruka contemplated as he started to feel his shoulder turn numb under the man's weight.

"Iruka," the Copy nin suddenly whispered the chuunin's name on an unusual serious tone.

"What is it?" Iruka asked the man with slight worry, fearing he was about to be sick. There was short silence.

"... I think I'm drunk," Kakashi finally announced him, dead serious. Iruka blinked at the older man blankly. Then, the information proceeded in his brain and he sighed with relief: at least his coat was safe from the Copy nin's dinner - for now.

"I've never been drunk before," the intoxicated man continued, staring at the road ahead of them. "And I dun't like it. 'Feels weird..."

"Don't worry, you'll feel better tomorrow," Iruka reassured him patiently, feeling a little bad for lying to him. Well, he was not _exactly_ lying, since the Copy nin would probably feel better by tomorrow evening. After having one nightmare of a morning, though... Kakashi remained silent, obviously thinking about something else. Then, he raised his head toward the sky over their heads, giggling under his breath.

"Stars are pretty... And I like pretty things," he told the moon happily. That made him thought of something else. "Where's my umbrella again?" he muttered to himself, passing his shaky hand in his spiky silver hair. Finally getting an hold of the cardborad decoration, he beamed. "Ah! There it is!"

Picking it in his wavering hand, Kakashi brought it over his head and tried to put it toward the moon, but his hand was too unsteady. Disappointed, he brought the pink umbrella back to his body, frowning. Iruka watched him all the while, amused by the man's atticts, although he wished he would stop moving so much; it was already difficult enough to drag him around when he was staying still, if he was to keep on moving chaoticly like that... Then, the Copy nin turned his head toward the brown-haired man and stared at the spot just beside his ear. Never leaving that spot of the eyes, the Sharigan user twisted his left arm around and tried to pin the small umbrella in Iruka's hair, concentration written all over his face masked face. As he did so, he leaned even more on the smaller man, who found himself staggering dangerously not to loose his balance. The chuunin's eyes widened at the sudden realization that they would find themselves both on the ground very soon it Kakashi kept on trying to pin his pink umbrella in his hair.

"Kakashi!" Iruka yelled at the other man, panicking slightly, "Stop that, we're gonna fall!"

"'Minute," the Copy nin mumbled happily, the shaky cardoard umbreally stick too close to Iruka's eye for his comfort, "almost there..."

"Kakashi!" The chuunin bellowed with his powerful academy teacher voice, "STOP IT!"

Iruka's angry voice could be heard echoing through the silent village, his outburst disturbing the serenity of the quiet moonlit night. The silver-haired man froze at the imperative comment, staring at the younger man under him. At the sight of the Sharigan user's reaction, the brown-haired man regretted bitterly having snapped at him; Iruka's angry shout had left Kakashi's face completely blank - the same kind of indescribable blankness the man had previously worn earlier in the night, when he had refused to shake his hand. Even though they stared at each other for a mere second, Iruka felt Kakashi's oddly sad blank look linger forever on his face, devouring him from the inside with remorse and guilt at the remembrance of his previous shameful behaviour toward the clueless man.

Why? Why couldn't he control himself for once? He had promised himself he'd be nicer with Kakashi for the New year, and he was already getting mad at him... He was only drunk, afterall...

Slowly, the Copy nin's gaze went to the ground as he lowered his left hand, allowing Iruka to get a better hold of him and restore the thin balance still keeping both of them on their feet. Looking away sorrowfully, Iruka started walking again silently, the sound of their feet muffled by the thin layer of snow they were walking on. As he nearly dragged Kakashi around, the young man contemplated apologizing to the silver-haired man walking difficultly beside him. Not that it would make a difference... But maybe he would feel better with himself after doing so. But somehow, he found himself unable to summon enough courage to break up the silence between them.

It was silly, he knew it! He just had to say three small words! But he wasn't able to. Despising his own weakness, Iruka sighed.

"Iruka."

The chuunin's eyes widened when he heard Kakashi say his name almost sadly beside him, his head hanging lowly on his slouched shoulders. Obviously, the Copy nin wasn't waiting for an answer as he spoke out softly on again on the same sorrow tone.

"Iruka... Why do you hate me...?"

Iruka didn't even realize he had stopped walking. Staring at the jounin, whose eyes wouldn't leave the snowy road ahead of them, the academy teacher was left speechless.

Somehow, he had unconsciously dreaded that question, fearing the overwhelming feeling of doom he imagined he would experience at that precise moment. He had thought he would be overtaken by guilt, uneasiness, shame or even fear of being turned down. But now that he was facing the unavoidable question, his mind felt strangely clear. Even a bit blank - that must have been due to the alcohol he had swallowed.

Somehow, he didn't fear anymore.

"I don't hate you," he said quietly, his voice a mere whisper through the cool winter night.

"Don't lie," Kakashi replied as quietly, not even looking up. "I know you hate my guts... But why? Why do you hate me so much? ...You love everybody..." the Copy nin sighed sadly. "You're all nice and stuff with everyone, even those b-_bastards _who don't deserve your kindness... You care about 'em, you're always there to help, even when you know they don't give a _shit _about you," the jounin muttered under his breath, hints of anger appearing through his messy words. "And yet... you don't like me... Why is that so, Iruka...?"

"Kakashi-"

"Is it somethin' I said? Somethin' I did? Or is just the whole of me that angers you?" the jounin asked him with mild desperation, his voice getting louder. "What have I done, Iruka?"

"It's not your fault, it's mine," the said man answered quietly. For the first time, Kakashi's gaze left the ground. His head jerked up, his single confused eye staring intensely at Iruka's brown ones, searching desperatly for an answer he obviously couldn't figure out on his own. The academy teacher stared back sadly, a small comforting smile on his lips. He didn't know if he would regret what he was about to say, or if he would even truly say it, but somehow it all didn't matter much as he stared at that confused gray eye devouring him with unspoken questions.

"I don't hate you, Kakashi. In fact... I like you," Iruka felt those words leave him lips quietly, leaving him abnormally peaceful. The Copy nin blinked at him, even more confused than before.

"No you don't," the Sharigan user refuted him, frowning, "You're always mean with me and you g-glare at me... with your eyes..."

"Well..." the brown-haired man started off hesitantly, unsure of how he could explain such complex emotions - emotions he had just started understanding himself, moreover - to a drunk man. "I acted that way toward you because I knew I wouldn't have a chance with a man like you and... it frustrated me."

Kakashi's frown deepened with confusion. "What d'you mean, you... Oh," the older man breathed softly in understanding, "_Oh._"

"Yeah," Iruka looked down, staring at the snow on his feet as silence installed itself between them. Then he let out a small laugh, smiling to himself. "Funny, isn't it? To think I just confessed like that... 'Must be all the alcohol Anko forced me to drink... I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei."

The jounin remained mute, staring at his feet thoughtfully: he seemed to still need time to proceed the information in his head - which was quite understandable given the enormous amoung of sake he must have drunk. He seemed a bit shocked by the news too, but hell, who wouldn't be? Iruka himself felt mildly surprised by his own words, hardly believing he had confessed to the Copy nin so... easily, so quickly. To think that only six hours ago, he couldn't stand his sight... But he didn't regret it. At least, _for the moment being_, he didn't regret it. Iruka knew it probably would be another story tomorrow when he would be sober again. But he didn't want to think about it for now. He'd fret over it tomorrow, for now he had a very drunk - and probabaly very disturbed as well - jounin to bring home. And a warm bed awaiting him, he suddenly remembered as a gust of cool wind hit them both, making them shiver in the dark night.

"Here," the chuunin said softly to the still shivering man leaning on him, "let's bring you home."

* * *

To be continued.


	6. Under the moonlight

Here again, another part. I'm updating the next one tomorrow ;)

It's an interesting chapter, but I think it doesn't flow well enough yet. Oh well, nothing's perfect. Anyway I trust that imagination of yours to make things flow properly in your crazy KakaIru fangirls/boys brains

Full of mistakes, as usual. Enjoy anyway and speak up your mind; that's what reviews are for ;)

* * *

**PART VI**

Not on me, please!

Kakashi and Iruka walked together silently in the quiet Konoha streets. The night had gotten colder as an icy wind had suddenly risen, making both men shiver through their clothes. Iruka wished he would arrive at Kakashi's place soon: his feet were starting to freeze and he could barely feel his left shoulder anymore under the jounin's weight.

Looking up, the chuunin sighed with contentment at the sight of the flower shop, the said small building lit up by the pale light of the moon a good ten meters in front of him. Right beside it stood a small anonymous apartment block, which obviously was Kakashi's. Anticipating the warmth of the Copy nin's home, Iruka tried to walk a bit faster, but the staggering man he nearly dragged around unfortunately didn't seem to be able to follow him. When they finally reached the block's front door, the brown-haired man paused and cautiously started to search through Kakashi's pockets, looking for the man's keys uneasily. He found them in the jounin's pants pockets and opened the door with it, entering the apartment block quietly. As he closed the door with his foot behind them, Iruka felt a wave of warmth surround him and sighed happily, glad to be finally safe from the harshness of the cold winter wind. Beside him, the Copy nin also seemed to be relieved as he relaxed into Iruka's body - or maybe he was just tired, who knows. Looking around in the tiny and poorly lit entrance, the academy teacher noticed that there was only one apartment door and a rather narrow staircase on the ground floor, the latter leading to the numerous upper floors.

"Kakashi-sensei?" the chuunin spoke out softly the slightly taller man's name, "Kakashi-sensei? On which floor is your apartment?"

The silver-haired ninja remained quiet, slouching onto Iruka heavily. "Kakashi-sensei?" the brunette asked again, shaking the older man gently. The jounin lifted a bit his head, his dull eye staring at the starcase blankly.

"Huh...? What...?" the drunk man babbled numbly.

"On which floor, Kakashi?" Iruka repeated patiently, grimacing silently under the man's weight, which seemed to increase at every second that passed by.

"...floor...? Oh...! Hn, the fifth..."

The fifth floor? Iruka looked up anxiously at the narrow staircase in front of him, cursing inwardly his bad luck. Bracing himself, he dragged the Copy nin toward the stairs and started climbing them with him very slowly. His muscles were seriously starting to protest and he felt his legs start to go numb under the man's weight, which kept on increasing as the Sharigan user leaned more on him for support. After they difficultly reached the third floor, Kakashi stoped moving altogether, obviously exhausted. As the older man wasn't able to climb any more stairs, Iruka had to drag him for the last two floors, his legs shaking from the effort and his back aching painfully.

When he finally reached the fifth and last floor, the brown-haired ninja leaned on the wall heavily, panting. God, Kakashi was so _heavy_! Iruka had never imagined he could be such a dead weight...! The chuunin felt totally drained by all that physical effort. Fortunately, they were almost there. Summoning the little strength he had left, Iruka walked to the only door of the floor and patiently opened it with the jounin's keys. He entered the dark apartment quietly and closed the door behind him soundlessly. Iruka didn't even look for the light switch, as the moonlight illuminated Kakashi's apartment with its soft translucent light.

Under other circumstances, the chuunin might have taken advantage of the situation to look around and learn more about the jounin's lifestyle, but his weary mind was focused on one single thing: finding Kakashi's bedroom. That meant to be able to free himself from the Sharigan user's weight - and to return to his own bed for much needed sleep.

Walking difficulty through the jounin's apartment, Iruka thought he saw a room that seemed to have a bed in it on the other side of the living room, on his right. Walking around the kitchen table, the chuunin dragged around the heavy Copy nin into the living room, fixing with a stare the bedroom - his ultimate objective. He was so engrossed with the room, which came nearer with each painful step he made, that he didn't see the small coffee table in front of him and stumbled into it. Before he even knew it, Iruka found himself falling hard on the floor, making an ear-tearing crashing sound as he did so. The chuunin moaned in pain as his right side collapsed painfully on the living room wodden floor, Kakashi falling over him heavily like the dead-weight he was. The academy teacher was left breathless under the weighty man, his already aching left shoulder squashed between their two body in an awkward posture. Difficultly, Iruka tried to lift Kakashi's lifeless body to be able to get up, but only managed to lift it long enough to shift his own weary body into a more comftable position, his back lying against the cold wooden floor. When he couldn't support the man's weight anymore, Kakashi felt once again on him, grunting weakly into Iruka's scarlet pullover. The said ninja let out a tired breath.

Damn. That was his luck again! And they had been so close to their goal, too... Twisting his head around cautiously, the brown-haired man saw the bedroom door standing only a few feet from them. Damn! It was frustrating!

Iruka knew he wouldn't be able to get up any time soon, not with the weighty nin sprawled on him like that. If he wouldn't have been so tired, it would have been another story... Yes, Kakashi was heavy, but Iruka was a rather strong man himself: lifting him wouldn't have been much a task under other circumstances. But walking all the way from the Hokage tour with the jounin leaning on him had left him totally exhausted, for some unexplainable reason. And the four or five tropical punch glasses he had drank in the evening musn't have helped... Maybe he would be able to lift the Copy nin up again if he let his sore muscles rest a bit. Probably.

Sighing, Iruka relaxed a bit onto the hard floor: all he could do for now was waiting, so there was no point freting over it. Besides, the Copy nin didn't seem to mind much his current situation, as he hadn't moved or talked since he had fell over him, his silver head resting peacefully on the chuunin's torso. He was probably too drunk to even realize exactly on what he had fell, poor him. Looking through the large window, Iruka stared quietly at the shape of the moon, its pale rays caressing softly the intoxicated men lying on the floor soundlessly.

That's when Iruka felt it. There was something hot and wet on his torso. Looking down at the Sharigan user, Iruka felt himelf being suddenly overtaken by worry: what if Kakashi had hurt himself when he fell? What if he was bleeding?

"Kakashi-sensei! Are you alright?" Iruka's question was greeted with a long silence that only alarmed the chuunin more. Moreover, he couldn't see from his position if the said liquid was blood. But what else could it be, honestly?

"Kakashi?" Softly, the academy teacher moved slightly the man's face and diped his fingers into the hot liquid. At once, he relaxed as he noticed the liquid was _not_ blood, judging from its sticky texture. But then...?

Bringing his wet fingers to his nose hesitantly, Iruka sniffed the said liquid. He eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the liquid's unique acid scent.

No way... Kakashi was _drooling_ on him!

Drooling! Hatake Kakashi! On _him_!

Iruka was left speechless, staring blankly at the smashed man ontop of him who was too out to realize he was drooling on the stunned chuunin. When the drooling wouldn't stop, Iruka started to feel a bit uneasy.

"Huh, Kakashi? I think you're drooling on me there..." he told the man silently, poking at him gently. But the jounin once again didn't answer. "Kakashi?"

That got the academy teacher slightly worried. Sure, Kakashi was completely drunk, but he hadn't seemed to be drunk enough to pass out like that so suddenly... He had even been able to have a discussion with him no less than ten minutes ago! Watching closely the man's breathing pattern and chakra flow, Iruka suddenly understood why the jounin wouldn't answer any of his questions.

He was asleep.

Iruka blinked, a bit taken aback by the new revelation. Kakashi-sensei had fallen asleep on him! That thought made him suddenly snort, a small smile forming itself on his lips. Somehow he found the whole situation strangely amusing, even though he felt rather uneasy about it. The Great Hatake Kakashi, ninja extraordinaire, had mistaken him for a warm, giant pillow and had happily fallen asleep on him. How ironical. And he was now drooling on him. _Drooling_.

Well, that was a tad less funny. Iruka shifted uneasily under Kakashi's body, mildly distressed by the strange wetness slowly spreading itself on his torso. Iruka had never been drooled on before; hell, he had _never_ had anybody sleeping so close to him before - something he would never admit to anyone, even under torture - so this was a whole new experience to him. And it disturbed him a bit. But, as he stared at the moonlit mass of silver hair sleeping soudly on his chest, Iruka couldn't help but find the situation, even if a bit unnerving, rather... cute.

His own chain of thoughts made him blush slightly. Anko would probably have said he was lucky to have his crush sleeping on him, but seeing things that way only made Iruka feel shy about it.

In fact, Anko would have probabaly said something much worse than that, but Iruka didn't want to think about it.

Kakashi looked so peaceful under the moonlight that Iruka didn't dare waking him up... He just couldn't. Which also meant he couldn't move from there until the other man woke up by himself. The brown-haired man sighed; there went his thoughts of his own warm bed. But at least he didn't feel to uncomftable to have the jounin lying on him: Kakashi was sure heavy, but his weight was bearable. Plus, the warmth radiating from him was rather nice... Shifting himself, the chuunin tried to make himself comftable on the wooden floor he was bound to spend the night on.

Iruka hoped Kakashi wouldn't be mad at him when he would wake up in the morning. It was not his fault he had fallen asleep on him, afterall.

Slowly, Iruka felt consciousness leave his being, joining the silver-haired man who was drooling peacefully on his torso in the realm of dreams.

To be continued.


	7. Pajamas

Sensible stomatches, this part might not be for you. 'Just wanted to warn you

Full of mistakes, please don't be too hard on me. And please tell me what you think :)

* * *

**PART VII**

Pajamas

Iruka woke up to the sound of his own name. Frowning numbly, he tried to ignore the annoying noise and go back to sleep. But then he felt himsef being shaked. Or moved, he didn't quite know. His frown deepening, he forced his eyes open, annoyed at whatever had woken him up from his peaceful numbness. But even with his eyes open, he couldn't see anything. Everything surrounding him was plunged into darkness. Strange. He blinked again and tried to stir his somewhat sore muscles, only to find he couldn't. That's when he realized there was something heavy on him; something calling his name weakly, moreover.

It took him a few seconds to remember why there was something _alive_ lying on him, why he felt sore and why the mattress seemed strangely hard under him. When it all came back to him, Iruka blinked again several times, trying to wake himself up. He looked sleepily at the window next to him, only to see a shadow of the moon hidden under thick layers of clouds with his half-closed eyes. The moon hadn't moved much: he musn't have been sleeping for a long while. Two, maybe three hours. Hnnn, he was so sleepy...

He suddenly felt the man slouched on him shaking. Advertizing his feverish attention on the Copy nin, Iruka tried to get a sight of him through the near total darkness of the night, but only recognized his shape vaguely.

"I-Iruka..." the older man panted weakly his pillow's name, his tone plaintive.

"What is it, Kakashi...?" the chuunin asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes with his hand in a futile attempt to get rid of his tiredness. There was a short silence.

"...I... I think I-huhh," the jounin whined under his breath. That tone sounded strangely familiar to Iruka's still drowsy mind. He had heard it before... What was it again? Iruka _knew_ that tone, if only he could recall... Ohh, yeah. It was...

I was the same tone 6 year olds used when they were about to be sick.

That revelation acted like a cold shower on Iruka's mind, effectively waking him up back to awareness. Just then, he felt Kakashi heave suddenly on him. There was no time to waiste. Without loosing a second, the brown-haired man got on his feet and put Kakashi's lifeless arm around his shoulder, dragging him through the apartment. Bathroom, bathroom, where was the bathroom again? He was sure he had seen a bathroom somewhere! Ah, there it was!

On his way to the bathroom door, Iruka crashed into the dinner table violently, cursing loudly. Wobbling, the academy teacher entered the small bathroom in a hurry and fumed with his available hand to find the switch on the wall. When he found it, he turned the lights on and blinked painfully at the dazzling light surrounding them. Still blinking, the chuunin dragged the silver-haired man toward the toilet and helped him bending over it. The jounin panted louder, cluching Iruka's clothes involuntarily. That wasn't a good sign, Iruka knew it only too well. He lifted the wooden seat of the toilet and helped kakashi to remove his mask, sticky with saliva and sweat. Just then, The Copy nin heaved again, more violently, and vomited into the toilet bowl in a splashing sound.

Looking away - he knew better than watch anyone's vomit too closely, even if he had a strong stomach - Iruka patted Kakashi's back soothingly, brushing aside the jounin's silver hair from his face. The said man heaved and threw up again. When the flow stopped, Kakashi panted loudly, his eyes watering. He swore loudly between two breath, cluching the toilet.

"H-Hugh... Ha.. I-I'm gonna kill Genma..." he muttered darkly into the toilet. "A-And Gai! And the _fuckin'_ Hokag-" He couldn't finish his sentence, as he trew up again violently.

"Yes, you can kill as many people as you want," Iruka assured the drunk man quietly, "as long as you keep your head over the toilet bowl."

The silver haired man vomited some more and then stopped again, panting slightly. Then, his breath calmed down and his grip arounf the toilet loosened.

"Feeling better?" the chuunin asked him quietly, letting go of the man's hair. Kakashi nodded blankly and let himself slide on the floor wearily. Then, a grimace appeared on his pale face as he snorted, holding his nose with his shaky hands. The shorter man sighed inwardly; it was his usual luck to be forced to help a drunk vomiting man to clean himself, really. He would have wanted to see _Anko_ do something like that for anyone...

Patiently, Iruka helped the drunk man to blow his nose and washed the jounin's face cautiously with paper tissue, wiping off his sweat and some of his last meal. When it became evident Kakashi wouldn't throw up again, Iruka flushed the Sharigan user's dinner and started searching through the man's closets for some mouthwash. If the Copy nin was to go back to sleep without _at least_ washing his mouth, he would regret it in the morning... Iruka had already tried it in his youth and kept an horrible memory of it. He found some behind the man's cleaner - pepperminth fresh, it was written on it. Iruka absent-mindely wondered how pepperminth was supposed to be fresh as he returned to the jounin's sides. Oh well, it was Kakashi's afterall...

Patiently, the chuunin lifted the heavy silver-hired man from the ground and helped him to rinse his mouth in front of the washbasin - which was actually quite difficult, since the man could barely stand again and kept on leaning on him. When they were done, Iruka dragged the jounin through the dark apartment to his moonlit bed and, not without some difficulty, laid him down on his rather large bed. Sighing contently as he finally let go of the man - he had already forgotten how weighty he was! - Iruka watched the drunk man closely with concern. He didn't seem to feel sick anymore, but his bathroom visit didn't seem to have affected him one bit, as he was obviously as drunk as before. Kakashi's skin was quite pale, especially under the moonlight, and his sweaty clothes stuck to his skin in, even our shy Iruka had to admit, a very appealing way. In fact, he was a stunning sight, with his silver hair sprawling on his green pillow... Iruka mentally slapped himself, feeling shameful. The poor guy was drunk, dirty, tired and had just been sick moments ago, it was certainely NOT the moment to think about such things. He was not Anko, for God's sake!

The said jounin stared at him from his position, an hint of curiosity in his dull eye. And for the first time, Iruka noticed Kakashi's face. Funny; he had held the man's hair while he was vomitting, washed his face and helped him rinse his mouth, yet he had never truly noticed before that how beautiful his well-balanced features were. How Kakashi's left eye scar slid through the man's pale cheek like a lone tear. How his nose was perfectly straight under his smooth skin. How his pink lips parted only slightly when he breathed.

He had been so absorbed in helping the drunk man that he had missed to notice how Hatake Kakashi was handsome.

Realizing he had been staring at the jounin, Iruka blushed slightly and looked at the man's eye, which was still staring at him somewhat curiously.

"You must be thirsty," the brown-haired ninja looked away, mentally slapping himself again to be caught staring at his unmasked face like that, "Let me bring you some water."

The academy teacher went to the kitchen silently and, after a few minutes, came back into the man's bedroom with a big glass of cold water. He then silently helped Kakashi drinking it, since the Copy nin's hands were still too unsteady to hold anything. When he saw the man's eyes starting to flutter sleepily, Iruka put the glass on the small bedtable and helped the jounin removing his shoes - in fact, you couldn't truly say he helped him because Kakashi didn't take part at all in the whole process, to busy slowly falling into Morpheus' arms. After he removed the man's socks and his coat carefully, Iruka wondered hesitantly if he was also supposed to remove his shirt. Of course it would have been preferable, since his clothes were drenched in sweat and smelt strongly of sake. Would Kakashi be angry at him if he did so? Maybe he would think Iruka tried to... molest him or something... And he didn't want the jounin to imagine himself that he c-could, that he would- Ohh, the simple idea of it disturbed the shy ninja enough like that, he didn't want _Kakashi_ to imagine something among those lines! Eyeing the elite ninja's sweaty shirt hesitantly, Iruka was surprised when he heard him start to chuckle sleepily. Looking up, the academy teacher was stunned to find Kakashi staring at him again, his half-closed eye glittering with amusement.

"You're fun," Kakashi explained sleepily, a lazy grin on his pale face. Then, he raised his staggering arm and vaguely pointed one of his wooden dresser. "'Pajamas," he mumbled sleepily, smiling one last time.

Then his arm fell heavily onto the bed and The Copy nin fell asleep peacefully, just like that.

Iruka blinked blankly, a bit amazed by the elite ninja sleeping soundly in front of him. What a phenomenon...! Falling asleep just like that! How could Kakashi always fall asleep so fast anyway? Maybe it was because of all the sake he had drunk...

Iruka eyed cautiously the dresser Kakashi had pointed him, wondering if the man had actually meant what he had understood... The idea of a drunk Kakashi autorizing him, or even asking him to undress him and help him put his pajamas on was so utterly ridiculous the chuunin wondered if he had not imagined it to start with. Anyhow, the jounin needed to change, Iruka finally decided, nodding hesitantly to himself. Walking to the said dresser, Iruka opened cautiously the first drawer, feeling a bit bad for searching through the older man's personal stuff like that. And, just because life liked to see him miserable, the first drawer he opened was full of _underwear_. Blushing, the academy teacher closed it quickly and looked away. Sure, he would change the man's clothes, but he was NOT changing his underwear.

Iruka hesitantly opened a second drawer, which contained what he guessed were pajamas. The chuunin sighed with relief and took out one of the man's pajamas, closing the drawer silently. Summoning his courage, Iruka went to Kakashi's sides and started stripping him down slowly, cautious not to wake him. He first removed his shirt, unbuttoning it carefully and passing it under his back, lifting him slightly as he did so. He carefully put the pajamas shirt on the sleeping man, forcing himself not to look at the man's muscled chest as he did so: he didn't want to start having embarrassing thoughts in such a place. Then, he removed the Copy nin's pants and put on him his pajamas pants, which was a lot easier than puting on the shirt. When he was finally finished, Iruka steped back and watched the Sharigan user sleep soundly in clean clothes under the soft moonlight, satisfied. He looked so peaceful... That reminded him of his own warm bed. Just then, Iruka yawned, realizing how tired he was himself.

It was time to head home.

Iruka took the blanket Kakashi had left at his the end of his bed and carefully unrolled it on the sleeping man. Then, he turned around and headed slowly for the room's door. As he was about to leave the bedroom, Iruka paused and shot a last short glance at the beautiful man sleeping on the green bed sheets, a small tired smile forming itself on his lips.

"Good night, Kakashi."

* * *

To be continued 


	8. Hide and seek

This chapter was supposed to be the last one, but it was getting way too long, so I cut it. Yep, once again. hey, don't complain! That means you still have one last chapter to savour!

I only have one thing to say: angry Iruka is _fuuuuuuun!_

Full of mistakes and probably some verb tense mistakes as well, I'm afraid. Sorry for that. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter anyway ;)

* * *

**PART VIII**

Hide and seek

"That's it? And you left just like that?"

It was 3 o'clock and snow was falling rather lazily on Konoha, giving the whole village a rather strange quiet look. And, as a matter of fact, the village happened to be very quiet that said afternoon. The usually busy streets were alarmingly empty, stores were closed and even the mission room was only opened for a few hours, in case there was an emergency. It was one of those rare days on which most of Konoha's nins were on vacation leave, locking themself up in their own houses and relaxing in the comfort of their home, with their family. As the years passed by, it had even become a tradition to spend that day home and people sure didn't mind staying in the warmth of their beds for once, especially in that weather. But, as she wasn't one to follow such traditions, Anko was siting at Iruka's table, breaking shamelessly into the man's privacy to satisfy her own curiosity.

"Yes," Iruka replied quietly, sipping his green tea thoughtfully.

"I can't believe it!" came Anko's incredulous answer, the sake her host had served her on her request long forgotten. "I mean, you got over the trouble of bringing him home, you let him sleep on you, you watched him throw up, you undressed him and you never, not even _once_, took advantage of it? You gotta be kidding me!"

Iruka glared flatly at her, but remained silent. Anko was his friend, and she was a good friend too, but they had _very_ different views on what was a 'good occasion' and what was inappropriate or indecent.

"And what should have done? _Molesting_ him maybe?" Iruka snorted a bit acidly.

"Why not?"

"Anko! I'm not _that_ kind of person!" the chuunin protested, indignant.

"And that's why you're still single too," Anko replied, taking a sip at her not-so-warm anymore sake. "You should be more open to your needs, like me. You'd get yourself a boyfriend in no time."

"Anko, you're single," Iruka reminded her friend flatly.

"Minor detail."

Iruka smiled at his indecent friend's answer, mildly amused. That was the Anko he knew... So straightforward. Yet he knew that, even though she didn't agree one bit on the way he lived his love life - non-existant was usually the word she liked to use to describe it -, she accepted him like he was. But that didn't stop her from trying to turn him into a sex tornado like her every time the occasion shown itself. It was almost starting to be a routine between them. When Anko returned from a mission and handed her mission report to Iruka, she would untiringly try to convince him to follow her into a crusing bar, making him blush each and every time. It never ceased to amuse Iruka's coworkers, to whom the idea of the straight and serious Iruka going out in a cruising bar with Anko, of all people, was downright hilarious.

As his chain of thoughts returned to the eventful previous night, Iruka frowned slightly.

"Well, I'm glad it's over," Iruka confided his purple-haired friend hesitantly. "That night had been a bit... disturbing."

"Yeah," Anko nodded seriously. "Having someone vomiting next to you is never a dear sight..."

"I was talking about all the rest, Anko."

"What? You mean him falling asleep on you and you having to strip him?" the harsh woman asked, incredulous. "Aw come on, Iruka! That's not disgusting! Seriously, who wouldn't want to have to strip their crush? Or to fall asleep with them? You should esteem yourself lucky it happened, really!"

"L-lucky!" the chuunin nearly choked out, slightly flushed, "H-he...! He _drooled_ on me, Anko!"

"Hm..." the jounin humed silently. "Kinky..."

"_Anko_!"

"Alright, alright! Relax Iruka, it's not all that bad," the purple-haired nin laughed softly, trying to calm down her friend, "I mean, you confessed and he didn't turn you down, right?" That seemed to calm Iruka efficiently as he silently advertized his gaze to the table.

"He was drunk," the chuunin explained softly, his quiet voice sorrowful. "He was too out to."

"But he wasn't too out to ask you to undress him, now wasn't he?" Anko asked back victoriously, "You think he'd ask you to strip him down if he was disgusted of you or something?"

"I don't know..." Iruka sighed quietly, looking up at the snow falling peacefully through the window, "He was drunk, afterall..." His friend stared at him, a bit worried by his sad behaviour.

"Do you regret telling him?" she asked him very quietly.

"I don't know..." the chuunin closed his eyes, sighing. "I wish I'll meet with Kakashi-sensei soon. When we speak again, he'll turn me down properly and life'll go on, but... It scares me, Anko," Iruka took a shaky breath. "I-I don't want to face him yet... What if-"

"Shhh," Anko cut him, patting his back in an uncharacteristical caring way, "'Remember what Asuma said yesterday? Kakashi's a grown-up, he wouldn't act harshly with you only for _that_. Plus, you can't be disappointed, remember?"

"Yeah," Iruka looked down sadly. He didn't seem to feel better, but at least he seemed less scared now... The jounin didn't like to see him in such a state. Incredible, how love could turn upside down someone's life... Just then, she decided that if Kakashi was to act any other way than decently toward her brown-haired friend, she'd kill him, fuckin' elite jounin or not.

To change the subject, Anko suddenly bent forward the young man, smirking, a malicious gleam in her dark eyes. "So... How the Copy nin under that mask of his? Is he any cute?"

Iruka blushed fiercely at the question, remembering the man's moonlit handsome features only too well.

"I take it he's downright gorgeous," the jounin said on an amused tone, her smirk widening.

"Anko..."

"Oh, s'okay, I won't tell," she added playfully. "You can keep him allllll to yourself, Iruka-dear."

"Why, you-!" Iruka choked out indignantly, his blush deepening. Anko burst out laughing. Outside, the snow was still falling quietly on Konoha village.

* * *

Five days had passed since that fateful evening. Since then, life had slowly returned to its normal flow for almost everyone. The village was as busy and noisy as ever, its streets filled with life again. The mission room opened on full hours again, people bustling in and out of it as they always had. The Hokage's got over her hangover after three long and painful days, much to everyone's joy. Genma had been allowed out of the hospital after the healer nins cured his broken leg - somehow, nobody knew how he broke it, although Iruka had his own little theory about it. And, of course, everybody was talking about Kakashi and Gai's sensational drinking game. The ones who were lucky enough to see it with their own eyes talked of the memorable event with great enthusiasm, while the others wished they could have been there to see it too. Much to everyone's annoyance, Gai didn't seem to have any memory left of the said contest; he also got out of the hospital around the same time as Genma, for different reasons though. And Kakashi was strangely enough nowhere to be found.

Indeed, life had returned to its normal flow for almost everyone in the ninja village. Unfortunately, Iruka wasn't part of that majority of people who were back to their boring routines.

Instead, he waited.

He waited with something on his mind constantly nagging him, slowly drinving him insane. Everyday, when he was on duty, he kept on casting sideglances at the mission room door expectantly, half-hoping and half-dreading to see a certain silver-haired man going through it. When he walked down Konoha's streets, he turned his head around nervously everytime he thought he saw a glance of silver hair, both disappointed and strangely glad when he realized he had been mistaken. At home, he would walk back and forth in his small apartment, repeating in his head in an obsessed way what he would say the the said man when they would meet, preparing himself to whatever he could come up with. And he was ready. Ohhh yes, he was!

Although he still feared the moment he would have to confront Hatake Kakashi - he knew it would happen sooned or later - he honestly wished the jounin could just stop hiding from the world and turn him down _like a man_. All that anxiety was driving him insane! If he could just show up so they could get over it already! It was not like it was something difficult to do. All he had to say was "Sorry, but I don't feel that way for you" or something along those lines. It was not difficult, dammit! So why was he taking so long to refuse him anyway? It was not like he could be actually _scared_ of turning him down! He must have turned down many people in his life, men _and_ women, so one more shouldn't be the end of the world for him! God, Iruka hated that situation...! Even Naruto had noticed he was not feeling his best recently. When the kyuubi holder, of all people, could see the academy teacher was preoccupied, there was something Wrong.

The chuunin hoped Kakashi would put an end to this soon, because he could not stand waiting anymore. He even started to think that the man would avoid him forever and that he would never be given the occasion to settle things with him in the end...

So when he finally saw the Copy nin enter the nearly empty mission room that rainy evening, Iruka was left breathless. He had been hoping to see him so much that he couldn't believe he was finally facing the said jounin... But when he came back to his senses, Iruka felt strangely relieved by the man's presence. Tense, but relieved.

That meant they would finally get over with it.

Time seemed to freeze as Iruka finished to read the mission report the chuunin in front of him had just given him seconds ago, finding it suddenly difficult to focus on the simple paper sheet. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Kakashi slowly shaking his dripping umbrella at the entrance of the mission room. Iruka silently approuved the man's report and stared blankly at the desk under his hands as the random nin left the mission room.

There he was. Only 4 meters in front of him, his silver head bent forward as he carefully closed his wet umbrella. He would remain calm, Iruka reminded himself nervously. He would say what he had planned to tell him and he would certainly NOT stumble on his words. Everything would be fine... When he looked up, the jounin's eye was set on him, lingering on his person longer than it was necessary. Both men stared at one another silently until Kakashi finally raised his gloved hand, waving at the brown-haired chunin lazily. Iruka waved back, smiling politely. Obviously taking the man's answer for an invitation, the Sharigan user slowly walked straight to him.

God, Iruka was nervous.

The elite jounin stopped right in front of him, smiling under his mask. "Yo, Iruka-sensei."

"Kakashi-sensei," the chuunin nodded back as calmly as he could. There was a short silence. Then, the silver haired man rubbed the back of his neck with his gloved hand, his eye curving.

"I just wanted to thank you for taking care of me the other night..."

"Oh, it was nothing really."

"No, it wasn't," Kakashi cut him seriously, suddenly frowning. "From what I remember... I must have been a real pain to deal with. You've been very kind to go through all that trouble. I don't know many people who would have done something like that for me... You truly are a nice guy, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka felt heat rise to his cheeks as he heard those sincere words of praise. To be praised like that by _him_... And he had feared the Copy nin would be mad at him...!

"T-thank you," the chuunin muttered, not sure where this discussion would lead them. He hadn't planned things would turn that way! This was not how things were supposed to happen... and he didn't like it one bit.

"Maa, but I should be the one thanking you," the jounin said on an amused tone, his eye curving happily. Looking up, Iruka blinked at him blankly. Then, he caught up with the Sharigan user's chain of thoughts and his blush darkened at the sudden realization of how stupid his answer must have sounded.

"Ah, I guess so," he answered the older man, laughing a bit nervously. Great, now he managed to look like a perfect jerk! Of course, it was not something big - he just said something a bit out of place - but Iruka couldn't help feeling more ashamed than he should by it. Fortunately, Kakashi didn't seem to mind much as he kept on smiling to the man sitting in front of him, obviously amused.

Time stretched on as they stared at each others silently, uneasiness installing itself slowly between them. Surely enough, Kakashi hadn't come to only thank him... Iruka waited nervously for the silver-haired man to finally bring up the long-awaited subject, but the man kept on remaining silent. Why wouldn't he trun him down already? What was he waiting for?

When the academy teacher started studying the possibility of bringing up the subject himself, the Copy nin finally spoke up.

"Hn, Iruka-sensei, concerning that little chat we had the other day..." the jounin started off, staring at his feet uneasily. _There we go_, Iruka thought, inwardly relieved the discussion was heading on safer grounds. "Well huh..." Kakashi trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand in a rather embarrassed way, "That's not something we should talk about here... So I thought we could, you kn-"

"That won't be necessary, Kakashi-sensei. I already know what you are going to tell me," Iruka cut him on a controled voice, smiling a bit stiffly at his interlocutor. The jounin looked up from his sandals, staring at him in a surprised way. "Do not worry. I fully understand your situation and I won't cause you more trouble than I already have."

At those words, the Copy nin's shoulders fell in a rather uncharacteristical way. He stared at the brown-haired man blankly, and Iruka guessed he had not planned he would react that way. What had he imagined? That he'd throw a fit? That he'd start crying in the middle of the mission room or something?

"Huh, Iruka..." the jounin started off, his hesitant voice testifying of his surprise.

"I do believe there is nothing else to add," the chuunin cut him softly as he saw Kotetsu enter the mission room to replace him. That was a _perfect timing_. "I'm sorry to have bothered you with this affair. Please excuse me."

As he said those words, Iruka got up and bowed to the older man, who still stared at him, obviously dumbfounded by how things were turning out. The brown-haired man quickly put together his few belongings and headed for the mission room door as Kotetsu cluelessly took his place at the mission desk. He tried to walk on a normal and steady pace, but his legs were feeling strangely shaky under him and his heart menaced to break through his rib cage with each second passing by. But he didn't let it appear as he walked in a calm and decisive way toward the exit. Iruka felt the Copy nin's flabbergasted gaze following him as he walked out of the mission room calmly, never looking back. Even after he had left the mission room, Iruka kept on walking, staring straight in front of him and ignoring his surroundings in a somewhat desperate attempt to finally calm down.

It was not before he had reached the street he lived on that the realization of what had happened truly hit him. He had done it... It was all over.

His legs, which had led him home out of reflex, all of a sudden gave out under him and his knees hit the muddy ground wearily. The chuunin felt like waking up from a surreal dream and suddenly realized rain was pouring on Konoha, falling lazily from the sky over his head. He looked up at the gray sky tiredly, feeling the caress of the cold raindrops on his tanned skin. It felt somewhat nice... A sigh escaped his lips as he let the sky fall on him quietly, water running down his already wet body and clothes.

There he was. Standing bone-soaked on his knees in the middle of the road. Passers-by kept on giving him strange looks from under their umbrellas has they walked by him. But it truly didn't matter to Iruka, who stared dumbly at the sky.

Because he had done it. Everything he had wanted to tell the silver-haired man... he had said it. Without fault. Perfectly. Everything went exactly like he had planned in the end, and the Copy nin hadn't seemed too disgusted at him, which was far more than what he had hoped for. He would be able to return back to his normal life now. It was all over, and for the best.

Then, why was he crying?

* * *

Days had passed by. Children were as loud as ever in his classes, his mission room duties were as frequent as usual and Naruto was his exuberant self once again, to everyone's damn. The silver-haired man had turned him down and, moreover, he hadn't seemed to be annoyed at him, something Iruka hadn't dared dreaming about. Iruka was bound to feel his whole existence returning to its normal flow again, or so he had thought he would.

But he didn't.

Leaning carefully against the tree, Iruka concealed his chakra flow and hoped he would go unoticed. Holding his breath, Iruka dared to cast a sidelong look at the street behind him. He sighed in relief when he saw the road was clear, relaxing into the tree. Really, he was staring to become paranoid with all of this... Although his paranoia was somehow founded. And _that_ was the worst part of it.

Indeed, Iruka's life was nowhere near back to normal. Because he was hiding. And, by all means, it was _not_ a metaphor. Ever since he had that discussion with Kakashi at the mission room, he kept on running into the silver-haired man.

More often than he normally should.

Somehow, they kept on meeting all the time - and in the most uncommon places, no less. At the shrine, near the training grounds, at the memorium, in the bookstore, at the ninja academy, in the grocery store, at the ramen stand... And only when there was almost nobody around.

It hadn't taken long for Iruka to understand the jounin was tracking him down.

There was even a pattern in their meetings. Each and every time they ran into each other in some rather quiet and isolated place, the Copy nin would come to him, greet him with faked surprise and casually try to start a discussion with him, smiling innocently behind his mask as he did so. So far, his favorite topics had been the weather, Naruto and, for some reason Iruka didn't quite understand at the beginning, food. Kakashi's one-sided discussions tended to involve one restaurant or another, sometimes tea shops or even bars. Iruka only understood the jounin's interest in food when the said man, probably tired of Iruka's cluelessness, recently started asking him out, so they could have a little 'discussion'...

And each and every time they met, the chuunin smiled politely and found himself some more or less believable excuse to leave quickly before the jounin could protest. Hell, Kakashi rarely got any further than two sentences before Iruka shoved an excuse at him and fled nowaday.

Iruka had no idea what the Copy nin wanted with him. But he was sure of one thing: he did _not_ want to know. As far as he was concerned, everything they needed to say had been said already, so there was no point bringing up _that _subject again. All the brown-haired chuunin wanted was to forget about the whole matter altogether and go back to his normal life. But Hatake Kakashi didn't seem to want so.

Thus, Iruka hid himself. Well, he prefered saying he was avoiding the silver-haired man, but it was beside the point. For two days now, he had been locking himself up in his house, only leaving it to go to work. He had also started avoiding isolated or empty places, where he had more chances of 'running into' Kakashi. Hell, he didn't even answer the door anymore, since he had discovered the Copy nin knew where he lived. Iruka was aware he was maybe overdoing it a little bit, but he truly didn't want to be forced bringing up the subject of his feelings toward the older man again. And, even if he felt a bit shameful to admit it, he prefered avoiding Kakashi rather than having to turn him down everytime.

Plus, he was starting to run out of excuses.

Iruka looked up at his watch and saw there was still a good 25 minutes left before his shift at the mission room started. If he was lucky, he would be able to hide in the staff room before his shift started...

As the chuunin turned around to head to the mission room, he found himself face-to-face with no other than Hatake Kakashi himself. Iruka almost had an heart-attack when he saw the other man so close to him, leaning casually on a nearby tree as he watched him closely. Nervously, he gulped and tried to sound mildly surprised to see him there as his heart still pounded madly from the shock in his chest.

"K-kakashi-sensei!" the brown-haired man choked out less calmly than he had intended to, "I didn't know you were there." If front of him, the elite jounin's eye curved and his mask twiched into the shape of a smile.

"Yo, Iruka-sensei," the slightly taller man greeted him, waving a bit. "That sure is a nice tree to try to hide behind."

As Kakashi pointed at the tree Iruka was leaning on, the chuunin felt heat rise slowly to his cheeks as embarrassment flooded over him. He felt strangely nervous, not knowing how exactly he should react to his crush's new approach... Should he deny it? But he _had_ been hiding, afterall. There was no point trying to hide it. Well, there was no point trying to hide it anymore.

"Indeed it is," Iruka finally replied quietly as he regained some composure, leaning against the tree in a more relaxed way. The jounin fixed him intensely, his masked lips still harboring that neverwavering smile, although it did seem to be more bitter than usual.

"Iruka-sensei," the silver-haired man spoke up on a casual voice, his single eye still smiling, "Would you be avoiding me?"

"Would you be tracking me down, Kakashi-sensei?" he chuunin asked back on the same casual tone, his eyes staring intensely at the Copy nin's. That was a little game they could play together...

They stared at each other for a while, neighter of them ready to break the silence yet. After one long minute of intense glaring, Kakashi snorted and lowered his silver head, his gaze setting itself on Iruka's sandals.

"I guess we've reached that point already..." He muttered to the ground with irony. Iruka remained silent, still staring cautiously at the older man. He had no idea where this discussion would lead them, and somehow he didn't like the seriousness of the situation. Yet he knew he would not be able to avoid it. Not this time.

Suddenly looking up at the sky, Kakashi spoke up again. "Too bad. And I was about to ask you out to that Utsukano sushi bar near the Hokage tower, too. I heard they have great sashimis over there..."

"I do believe you have already asked me out to this restaurant before," Iruka replied him quietly, the corner of his lips twiching slightly at the irony of the whole situation.

"Is that so? Hn, I might have..." the jounin sighed, advertizing his eyes back to the brown-haired man standing in front of him. "Hell, I have probably asked you out to all the restaurants I know of. I should go out more, I guess..." Saying so, the silver-haired man scratched his head sheepishly. "Well, you could accept the offer for once, ne?"

"I have nothing to say to you," was Iruka's quiet answer, his voice unusually cool.

"Then you could listen."

"Listen, Kakash-"

"No, _you_ listen," the Copin nin cut him under his breath, his voice suddenly cold. "I'm tired of running after you like a jerk. We still have things we need to talk about, like it or not."

"There is nothing more to say-" the chuunin started off on a stronger voice, but the jounin cut him brutally.

"Shit Iruka!" Kakashi hissed under his teeth, his voice shaking with supressed anger, "Will you stop thinking that you know what's going on in my head and listen to me already?"

A lone gray eye glared at the younger man darkly, but Iruka held the older man's furious gaze. The Sharigan user could have burnt a whole in the tree behind him with that gaze, but it merely affected the chuunin, who was not one to be intimidated easily.

"I have to go," the brown-haired man announced cooly to his interlocutor as he turned around and walked away steadily.

"And what would be your excuse today?" the jounin snorted bitterly, his eye narrowing as he followed the younger man. "You have to feed the dog you don't have? Homework to correct? Naruto? Meeting with friends? Hmph, don't make me laugh! You're such a coward-"

"Don't you even dare thinking you know how I feel!" Iruka bellowed angrily as he turned around, giving his most terrifying glare to the stunned silver-haired man following him. "You think this is all a game? It's a game to you, isn't it?" the chuunin spat out spitefully, his eyes burning with anger. "Well it's not for me! I've had enough of you and your antics already, you heartless bastard! _Just leave me **alone**_!"

At those words, the brown-haired academy teacher turned on his heels and walked away stiffly, leaving the frozen silver-haired jounin behind. Kakashi stared at the chuunin's retreating back blankly, too stunned by the man's glare to be able to react.

_God_, he didn't know Iruka's glares could be that frightening...! He felt sorry for the man's students.

As Iruka disappeared into the mission room, Kakashi finally got over his shock and realized he had let the man run away - once again. Damn... He narrowed his eyes, staring at the mission room darkly.

This called for drastic measures.

* * *

To be continued 


	9. Drastic measures

Here's the final part to what started off as a Christmas gift. And I'm glad it's finally over! Soory guys it took me so much time to write that final chapter, but I suffered from lack of inspiration and time lately.

NO, there won't be any sequel or epilogue. I like the ending the way it is, and if you want more then you can imagine it; I'm pretty sure you have enough imagination to make their relationship evolve by yourself.

Tomorrow morning, I start working again on my main story, Clueless teacher. It had been left over for way too long now. Until then, please enjoy that final chapter and leave me reviews to tell me what you think about it ;)

* * *

**P****ART IX**

Drastic measures

The mission room was as busy as usual, nins bustling in and out with affaired looks on their faces. But although everything seemed to be totally normaly in the small room, when given a closer look, people realized there was something wrong going on. Because one of the desk men, the academy teacher Iruka, was _zoning out_. Umino Iruka. Zoning out.

There was definitely something wrong there.

His coworkers kept on giving him worried sideglances, but the said man was too unfocused to even notice. He merely accepted every mission report he was given, not even bothering to check them throughfully. Which was actually more disturbing than all the rest: Iruka-sensei, the stern and serious academy teacher, was _not_ doing his job properly. Umino Iruka, imagine!

Of course, his coworkers should have at least tried to shake him out of his reverie, but neighter of them had the gust to. Because the chuunin looked somewhat annoyed, which they had always believed to be impossible to happen to the said nice and caring man. And _that_ wasn't a good sign... So instead, they kept on exchanging worried glances between one another, wondering what was bothering so much the chuunin, not courageous enough to find out by themselves.

Iruka was approving yet another mission report absent-mindely, still frowning to himself at the remembrance of the discussion he just had with the Copy nin. That had been just... wierd. He surely didn't expect the jounin to say such things... And those unexpected words had somehow arisen Iruka's curiosity. He mildly wondered what the silver-haired had meant back then, playing again their last discussion in his head, trying to find the hidden meaning behind those strange words. But no matter how many times he thought it over, he still had no clue what had truly been said between them. And, to some point, his ignorance annoyed him.

Even though he felt curious, Iruka still didn't want to have to confront the jounin - at least not any time soon. He prefered avoiding him, and at the same time fleeing the so called important and mysterious discussion the silver-haired man wanted so much to have with him. Kakashi had looked quite pissed about that attitude of his, too... At that thought, Iruka felt remorseful for snapping at the Copy nin earlier that day. Afterall, he had been right...

He was such a coward.

Iruka sighed and approved yet another mission report absent-mindely, grunting the usual courtesy formula to its owner dully as he did so. Somehow, Iruka was so drown in his sorrowful thoughts that he missed to notice the room had suddenly turned abnormally silent. He did notice there was something abnormal going on though when something big suddenly landed on the desk in front of him, effectively shaking him out of his daydream.

Laying on his desk was a HUGE bouquet of colourful flowers.

_Flowers. _

Iruka stared dumbly at the beautiful - and probably very expensive - bouquet resting in front of him, obviously meant to be _his_. And, judging to the sudden quietness of the whole room, he was not the only one to stare at it blankly. At that thought, Iruka felt heat creep to his tanned cheeks. Who the hell would...? Looking up, the brown-haired chuunin almost chocked on his saliva when he saw the person standing behind the bouquet of flower in front of him.

Hatake Kakashi, the one and only. Looking rather smug, for a matter of fact.

Iruka felt his cheeks burning from embarrassment, his heart pounding in his chest as he saw the smiling man standing so casually in front of him.

"Yo, Iruka-sensei," the jounin greeted him in his usual carefree way. The silver-haired man looked as calm and collected as usual, as if... as if he hadn't given a MAN an enormous bouquet of flowers - in a crowded public place, too!

"K-Kakashi-sensei!" the chuunin spluttered loudly as he jumped up from his chair, not knowing exacly if he felt more embarrassed or angry at the man's newest twisted idea. "What's that?!"

"Maa," the jounin answered lazily, tilting his head in an innocent way, "It seems pretty obvious to me, Iruka-sensei. It's a bouquet of flowers."

"T-that's not what I mean!" the brown-haired man stammered angrily, his face turning even redded at those words. "What's the meaning of this!"

Kakashi stared blankly at the blushing man, blinking. "Well, that also seem quite obvious, no? I'm not exactly the kind of guy who gives flowers just for the fun of it. But... seeing your reaction, maybe I should do it more often. If your face gets any redder, I think it might turn purple."

Iruka's blush only deepened at those words, the poor chuunin too shocked by the silver-haired man's words to even find something to answer back to him. Thus, he gasped silently, his mouth opening and closing itself stupidly like a fish.

"But don't worry, red suits you well," the older man added as an afterthought, his eye curving up into a smile. "I never thought I'd be saying something like that to a man one day, but you do look kinda cute when you blush like that."

Even though he had imagined his face could not turn any hotter, Iruka was surprised to feel heat rise again to his already burning cheeks. Finally snapping out of it, the chuunin slammed his fits powerfully on his desk, anger starting to boil in his veins. "S-stop playing around already!" he spluttered furiously, his face so red it could put into shame a tomato, "If that's a joke, it's not fun! You think you're fun, don't you? Coming here in the middle of my shift and-and acting like you-you're..."

"... like I'm flirting?" Kakashi finished the shorter man's sentence quietly, his voice suddenly devoid of mockery. The academy teacher stared at him blankly, stunned to hear the jounin use such words to describe his own actions. The Sharigan user took advantage of the brown-haired man's sudden loss of words to bend forward, his single gray eye staring at Iruka seriously. "Get the hint already, Iruka-sensei. I AM flirting with you."

Those words left the helpless chuunin flabbergasted. His mouth hanging, Iruka stared with shock at the older nin standing mere inches in front of him, too stunned to even realize he was gaping. Kakashi chuckled softly at the man's reaction, straightening up again as he let the brown-haired man's frozen brain enough time to proceed the new piece of information. When Iruka finally started to catch on what he had said, the jounin spoke up again on a light tone.

"That being said, how about having a nice little chat in a less crowded place? Not that I mind much the attention, mind you, but I guess you would probably prefer to talk it over in a more... let's say intimate ambiance," the jounin gave the silent room a lazy circular glance, and nins who had been shamelessly listening to every word of their discussion suddenly looked around uneasily, trying to busy themselves with something or another. "What about continuing this conversation over a good meal and a bottle or two of sake? How does it sound?"

Iruka blinked, realizing he was expected to answer something. The chuunin's ajar mouth closed and opened itself several times again in an attempt to say something - _anything_, really - but just then, the Copy nin spoke up once again.

"Since your shift already finished 1 minute and 46 seconds ago, go home, freshen up a bit and change your clothes. I'll be picking you up in half an hour at your place," the silver-haired man winked at Iruka and, before the chuunin could even think it over, he waved and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

_Gone_.

Iruka stared blankly at the empty space where the silver-haired jounin had stood moments ago, blinking. Kakashi... brought him flowers and h-he...? Just then, he...? Oh God...!

He had a _date_ with Hatake Kakashi.

At that thought, he felt a wave of warmth sweep through him, his stomach flustering in the strangest way. Kakashi just... asked him out _romantically_? So that meant h-he thought...? He wanted...? But, wasn't he supposed to be straight...? He still...? But... But...!

Iruka was shaken out of his daydream when he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. Jerking his head around, he was surprised to find Aza, one of his coworkers, standing next to him with an indescribable smile on her thin lips.

"Iruka?" she spoke out his name quietly, as if she was afraid to wake him from a marvellous dream, "You should go prepare yourself now, you know, if you don't want to make Kakashi-san wait..."

Those innocent words brought the chuunin back on Earth violently. Looking around him, he realized he was still in the mission room, surrounded by a dozen of ninjas. A dozen of ninjas who were stealing glances of him more or less subtly, exchanging amused or shocked murmurs between one another. A dozen of ninjas who had heard every single word of his last discussion with Kakashi. A dozen of ninjas who knew he had been asked out by the Great Hatake "Copy nin" Kakashi.

A dozen of ninjas who would probably spread that news through Konoha before dusk.

Oh. God.

If embarassment could kill, he would have been stroke by death just then. The chuunin truly wished he could just _disappear_ into thin air. Flustered, Iruka cast his eyes on the mission room's floor as he hurriedly put together his belongings to make his way to the exit, trying his best to ignore all those stares and whispers people were exchanging almost excitedly. He wanted to escape that gossip nest _as soon as possible_ before he could embarass himself furthermore. His eyes set on the ground, Iruka stiffly walked toward the mission room's door, the dozen pair of eyes he could feel lingering on his back sending shivers down his spine.

"Oy, Iruka-sensei!" someone called back at him before he could leave, "You're forgetting your flowers!"

The brown-haired man stoped dead on his track, frozen. Felling his cheeks heating up once again, Iruka turned around stiffly and took the bouquet before leaving the room hastilly, almost running away.

Gah, he wanted to **die**! Why did Kakashi have to give him those flowers in public like that? And on his workplace, moreover? Everyone saw it! Everybody knew! And now he was walking down the streets with an overly huge bouquet of flowers in his arms. Everyone kept on giving him strange looks... Oh, what he would give to be able to disappear!

But, as he reminded himself, he didn't have time to think about it. Because, no mater how unbelievable it sounded, he had a date with Hatake Kakashi. And he only had 25 minutes left to get ready for it.

That thought made his stomach flutter and he walked faster, jogging down the street leading to his apartment block. He felt totally overwhelmed by what had just happened to him, it was all too... surreal. When the chuunin finally arrived home, he dumped unceremoniously the bouquet in the kitchen sink and headed to the bathroom, scattering pieces of clothing through is apartment as he did so. Without wasting a moment, Iruka entered the shower and turned it on, wincing under the cold jet of water pouring on him. He quickly washed himself and before the water could even warm up, he was already out of the shower, trying to dry himself up with a towel as he ran through is home to gather up all the clothes and various things laying on the ground - just in case the Copy nin would come in. He tossed everything he found under his bed and stopped in front of his dresser, his pulse quickening in his veins at the prospect of having to choose clothes. He had a date with Kakashi-sensei, he couldn't just wear the same clothes he wore on normal off-duty days! Those clothes were far too common for such occasion anyway. And of course his uniform was out of question. The brown-haired man hoped he still had some 'clean' civilian clothes somewhere... Searching furiously through his drawers, Iruka dig up a pair of brown pants, one sweater and one or two miss-matched shirts. Of course, he still had his scarlet pullover - the one he had worn for the Christmas party - but he doubted it was an appropriate thing to wear for a date. Especially such an important one.

Anxiously, Iruka put on some underwear and tried on every 'clean' piece of clothing his old dresser still contained. He kept on sending nervous glances to the clock as time passed by rapidly, not able to decide which pitiful shirt he should wear for his date. God, why hadn't he been brillant enough to go shopping for nice clothes at least _once_ in the past 5 years? If he ever lived down to have another date with the Sharigan user, he swore he would get himself a whole new wardrobe! He would even bring Anko AND Sakura along for shopping if needed be, godammit!

He only had six minutes left when he finally decided on the black shirt - which was so _old_ that it was too small for him anymore. Well, the sleeves were not _too_ short, but the wole shirt felt just a bit too thigh for comfort. Fortunately, he had hardly ever worn it before, so it still looked rather good. Hurrying back to the bathroom, he put on some cologne and started brushing his teeth.

Three minutes left. Iruka put on his black leather shoes - at least those were 'clean' enough for the date. His hands were shaking so much that he had to start lacing them again three times before he finally managed to lace them properly.

Two minutes left. Running back to the bathroom, the academy teacher dried one last time his still rather wet hair with a towel before starting to comb it, fuming with his uncooperative comb. When it finally laid smoothly on his shoulders, he started fidgetting in front of his mirror, trying to figure out if he should tie up his hair or just let it down as if his life depended on it. Would he look like he was trying too much to flirt Kakashi-sensei? Maybe he shouldn't go out of his way...? What if Kakashi thought he looked _vain_ with his hair down? Hell, he wasn't even sure he looked good that way!

Just then, the chuunin's racing heart came to a halt as he heard someone knock at the door. Looking up a the clock in mild horror, he realized that it was already 6 o'clock. It was _him_! He was there, waiting for him at the doorway! Of all time, why did Kakashi had to be on time _today_?

Shit. _Shit shit shit_! His hair was still down! But he didn't have time to tie it up anymore anyway. The chuunin hoped he wouldn't make a fool out of himself with that old shirt and his loose hair... His heart pounding madly in his chest, Iruka raced to his front door and took a few seconds to let his breath calm down. Then he opened the door as normally as he could - if a door could be opened normally, that is - and held his breath.

In front of him stood casually the Copy nin, wearing dark jeans and a brown winter coat under which Iruka could get a glimpse of an elegant off-white shirt. Some part of Iruka's mind wondered how the silver-haired man managed to look so good so naturally. _He_ certainely didn't spend 20 minutes in front of his mirror wondering what he should wear!

That's when he noticed the other man wasn't wearing his usual black mask and bandana. In front of him stoof a maskless Hatake Kakashi, his handsome features almost glowing under the darkening night. Iruka gulped, feeling his stomach fluttering and his throat tighten at the beautiful sight standing in front of him.

"Kakashi-sensei," Iruka greeted the older man a bit nervously, willing himself not to stare. The jounin tilted his maskless face, smiling.

"Yo, Iruka-sensei," the silver-haired man greeted back casually. "Ready to go?"

"Y-yes!" Iruka spluttered, hastily grabbing his winter jacket and his keys as he headed out with the silver-haired man. Kakashi gave him an amused smile and led the way into the cold evening.

Without a word, Iruka followed him. They walked together in silence, the Sharigan user striding on Konoha streets in a totally casual and relaxed way. Iruka barely walked behind him, having absolutely no clue where the older man was leading him. At that thought, the academy teacher felt anxiety building up in him with every step he took. Truth being told, he was scared. Gulping, Iruka stared at the silver-haired man's large back, trying not to think too much about the moment when he would find himself face to face with the Copy nin. Because if he felt nervous just walking behind him, he didn't want to imagine how he would feel siting in front of Kakashi in a restaurant. Openly on a _date_ with him.

A date.

As a matter of fact, he was still a bit dazzled by that idea. Until now, he hadn't even _dared_ dreaming such a thing would happen to him one day. And now he downright dreaded that surreal moment. If he had been on his right mind, the brown-haired man probably would have found the whole situation highly comical... But he was not. Instead, he felt strangely anxious as he closely followed his date. Which didn't seem bothered at all: in fact, Kakashi looked just like his casual self. Which somehow only increased Iruka's anxiety.

Suddenly, the Copy nin stopped walking. Looking up, Iruka realized the older man had brought him to a small and rather homey-looking restaurant. It was a rather discreet building, located on a small calm street in the east part of th town. From what Iruka could see, it looked like the perfect place for a romantic and intimate date.

The chuunin gulped nervously.

After a few seconds, Kakashi walked up to the door casually and entered the restaurant, the slightly shorter man following him a bit anxiously. The place was small and had a rather warm and somewhat soothing ambiance. Warm, dark colors, subdued light and small wooden tables gave the place an unique, welcoming style. And, however anxious he felt at that moment, Iruka couldn't help but notice the subtil but appealing aroma coming from the kitchens.

Silently, the jounin led the way to a table at the back of the room, next to a small window. Both men removed their coats and sat down in front of each other in silence. Iruka gave the older man a quick look and took note he had been right earlier: the Copy nin looked downright stunning in that sober outfit... His eyes must have lingered a bit too long on the man's torso, because when he looked up Iruka found Kakashi gazing at him with intensity. Damn, he must have caught him staring...! Blushing slightly, the chuunin looked away and mumbled something to the pepperpot.

"... You look good in that shirt, Kakashi-san."

At those words, the jounin sighed soflty. "Is that so? I'm glad then. It means I didn't go over the trouble of going out shopping with Sakura for nothing."

"Eh?" Iruka looked up, mildly surpised. Kakashi chuckled, his mismatched eyes curving.

"Last week, I realized I owned almost no clothes - well, nothing suited for a date. I hate shopping for clothes, I'm not good at that kind of stuff to start with..." started to explain the jounin soflty. "So I asked team seven to help me finding myself some decent civilian clothes. 'Should have gotten the clue when I saw the boys's reaction..." Kakashi snorted.

"It must have been... quite an experience," Iruka said on a mildly amused voice; almost everybody who knew Sakura knew about her terrifying addiction to shopping. But Kakashi obviously didn't. And it seemed he learnt it the hard way.

"Indeed," the jounin chuckled soflty. "When I returned home, my arms were so full with shopping bags that I couldn't even see where I was walking. I stumbled into four people, two cats and one dog on my way home. Nearly killed myself twice."

Both men laughed silently under their breath, the tension that had built up between them slowly dropping. When they stoped laughing, there was a short silence.

"You look pretty good yourself," Kakashi complimented the younger man after a while on a casual tone. Iruka blushed and looked away, a bit uneasy. Just then, a young red-haired waitress appeared out of nowhere to bring them the menu - the chuunin had never been so glad to have his discussion interrupted by a waitress.

Both men set their attention on the menu. After short discussion, the waitress took their order before heading to the kitchens, leaving them momentarily with nothing to say. Silence streched between the two nins. They both felt it was the moment to bring up _the_ subject, but somehow neither of them seemed willing to speak up first.

"... You know," Kakashi finally started off quietly, "you truly took me by surprise when you confessed to me the other night. At that moment, I was too drunk to think it over, but when I woke up I remembered clearly feeling relieved back then... relieved to learn that you didn't hate me. I have always had high esteem of you and it upset me to think you couldn't stand the sight of me."

There was a short silence. Iruka stared at the silent silver-haired man, who looked like he couldn't find the right words to express himself. After a while, the Sharigan user sighed and set his gaze on the window, letting his eyes wander on the dark street.

"You might not be aware of it, but you are something," Kakashi added quietly as he started into the night. In front of him, Iruka's eyes went wide with surprise. "While I, among too many others, get acknowledged and respected for my power and skills, you managed to get people's respect for who you _are_. You are aware of the precariousness of life, of its ulgy sides and its hazards. And yet, you manage to keep faith in life, but also to communicate it to people who cross your path... You're probably the nicest guy I was given to met in my life and somehow, I... It may sound strange, but I always thought the woman who would catch your heart would be the luckiest girl in town."

Those words left the brown-haired chuunin speechless. He didn't know what he had expected to hear, but he surely enough hadn't expected something like that.

"So after you confessed, I thought it over for a long time," the jounin continued quietly, turning his head toward Iruka. "And I decided... we could give it a try."

Iruka stared numbly at the Copy nin. "But aren't you...?"

"...Straight?" Kakashi finished the brunette's sentence with an amused smirk. "Most definitely. But I thought that over too, and I found out the whole idea of going out with a guy wasn't disgusting me as much as it should have been... At first it bothered me a bit, but then I realized I didn't mind the gender much. On the other hand, I've always liked you and even admired you a bit. You're nice, reliable, comprehensive... and as if it wasn't enough, you're handsome. You'd make a perfect lover, so I'd be stupid to turn you down, wouldn't I?"

Iruka blushed at those words, looking down at his hands. Then he saw the other man's hand draw near his until white fingers laid lightly on his own tanned right hand, the soft touches sending shivers down his spine and making his stomach flutter. Looking up, the chuunin found the older nin staring intensely at him, a strange soft gleam in his eyes he had never seen before.

"So... Let's give ourself a chance, okay?" the jounin asked softly, making the other man's pulse increase as he took Iruka's hand in his own.

"Okay," the academy teacher answered quietly, holding tightly the silver-haired man's wide hand in his own masculine one. "But... let's make something clear right now," Iruka added after a short silence, slowly becoming more confident. Kakashi's eyebrow rose up in surpirse, mild curiosity showing on his face.

"I am NOT going to be your substitute for a girl," Iruka pressed on with a smirk, almost challenging the older man. Kakashi chuckled under his breath, obviously highly amused as he held the chuunin's gaze.

"Oh, I would never dream of it."

They both started chuckling, squeezing each other's hand over the remote table as they waited for their food to arrive. The rest of their date went well; they talked in a friendly atmosphere, They laughed a lot, and drank a bit. To any outsider, they looked like two friends having a friendly meeting. But anyone who observed them more closely than someone healthy would might have noticed that they fingers brushed more often than they normally should and that their seemingly light discussion held untold promises and hopes.

That night, they decided they would take things slowly, and go one step at a time.

They decided to give themselves a chance.

* * *

The End

Iruka: So that's why you were nowhere to find just after the party! You were thinking our relationship over.

Kakashi: No. To tell the truth, I was doing some research.

Iruka: Research?

Kakashi: I had never done anything with a man before, so I needed to have a better knowledge about the way things worked out...

Iruka:...You read gay porn.

Kakashi: You could see it that way.

Iruka: I'm not talking to you anymore.

Kakashi: Come on, let's "try out" my new knowledge together...

Iruka: In your dreams, pervert!

Kakashi: Iruka! Why must you always run away from me...!


End file.
